Trucking costs are surging in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, as big rigs get diverted to the Texas recovery effort. Check out the highlights...
The Highlights
- Businesses and aid groups are hustling to restock store shelves and bring in relief supplies after Harvey’s record rains wreaked havoc on supply chains tied to Houston. Many shippers are paying sharply higher rates to bring goods into the region.
- The cost of hiring a tractor-trailer to move freight from Dallas to Houston was an average 66% more in the week ended Sept. 2 compared with the previous week, according to online load board DAT Solutions LLC
- By Wednesday,September 13, 2017, many rail tracks around Houston had reopened. BNSF Railway said it expected closed routes between Houston and Louisiana to be restored by Thursday, but the carrier said lines to Corpus Christi and Brownsville were still blocked.
- Imports were also flowing back in through the Port of Houston, which shut down for a week after the storm’s Aug. 25 landfall.
- Trucks are also struggling to find loads in the city for the return trip because so many businesses that export to other parts of the country remain shut.
- Nationally the average rate for dry vans, the most common trucks, rose to $1.90 per mile including fuel surcharges for the week ending Sept. 2, up 6.7% compared with the previous week. Average diesel prices hit $2.68, up from $2.55 a week ago, according to automobile club AAA.
Read Jennifer Smith's of the WSJ article in its entirety here
