Wonder

Research Outline

Prepared for Josh K. | Delivered August 1, 2021

US Freight Hubs: Locations and Routes

Goals

To provide insights into the US locations with the largest number of freight hubs and the highest routes being driven by freight truckers throughout the country. Specifically, we will provide:
The location of freight hubs: Where the hubs are based (e.g., Orlando, Los Angeles) 
The size of the freight hubs in those locations. This will be based on the number of trucks or containers.
The freight routes with the highest demand of trucks traveling (e.g., highway I-70 between Kansas City and Denver has X number of trucks traveling each day, accounting for X percentage of all freight traffic).
We will focus on freight traveling by truck and use industry-level data such as Federal and state Department of Transportation data sources.

Early Findings

Data AvailabilityThe initial round of research indicates that data availability is adequate on this topic.
Busiest Interstates For TrucksAccording to the DOT, the busiest interstate routes for truck drivers are Interstate 95, Interstate 80, Interstate 75, Interstate 90, and Interstate 40. We have provided some insights into these routes below.
Interstate 95 I-95 is considered the busiest interstate for trucks for truckers on the east coast. 
The route stretches from Miami, FL to the Maine-Canada border, and runs the entire length of the east coast. 
Even though it is not the longest highway in the country, it is considered one of the busiest and also holds the record for crossing the most (15) states.
Interstate 80 I-80 travels east-west starting in San Francisco, CA and ending in Teaneck, NJ. 
As one of the major trucking routes in the U.S., I-80 makes its way through 11 states and totals almost 3,000 miles in length.
Since it’s one of the major transcontinental highways, drivers in the west, midwest, and east are said to have the likelihood of plowing the route at one point or another in their career.
Interstate 75I-75 travels north-south and originates in Florida. The difference is that I-75 ends at the Canadian border in Michigan, meaning that it veers more west than east. 
While the route passes through only 6 states, I-75 does travel through some major cities such as Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Detroit to name a few. 
The route was originally constructed when the population of Southwest Florida started to boom.
Interstate 90I-90 is considered by some Americans as the busiest interstate for trucks.
It is also the longest interstate in the U.S, stretching from Seattle, WA to Boston, MA, and covering 3,000+ miles. 
I-90 is an east-west route that is farther north, so it has a higher number than routes that are south of it.
Interstate 40  I-40 runs east-west and is located in the South.
I-40 starts in Barstow, CA and travels east to Wilmington, NC.
Most Popular Trucking StatesThe top 5 US states with the most number of trucks by volume are California, Florida, New York, Texas, and Georgia.
The first state that has a high volume of trucking along its routes is California. 
Its most popular routes end up in Los Angeles or San Francisco, and sometimes go to and from the cities. 
New YorkNew York City is ranked by Freight Cowboy as one of the most vibrant transportation hubs in the US.
The state consistently ranked number one among U.S. cities in truck freight volume.
New York City is a notable drop-off location for truckers. 
As of 2019, there were 37,590 trucking companies located in New York, most of them small, locally-owned businesses. 
These companies are served by a wide range of supporting businesses both large and small.
Freight volumes in New York are projected to grow 68% by 2045.
The state relies on trucks to move about 90% of freights around the city. 
Trucks transported 95% of the total manufactured tonnage in the state in 2012, representing 531,010 tons per day.
The trucking industry represents 6% of vehicle miles traveled in New York.
In 2018, New York had 113,533 miles of public roads over which all motorists traveled 123.5 billion miles. Trucking’s use of the public roads was 7.8 billion miles.
SummaryIn the initial hour of research, we focused our attention on identifying the busiest truck routes in the US and the states (locations) with the highest number of freight hubs and the size of the hubs based on the volume of trucks.
The initial research hour revealed that the required information is available in the public domain. However, additional research time is required to look into the rest of the US states with the largest truck volume and the traffic volumes of the busiest interstates routes.
We also propose further research to provide the volume of freight moved by trucks in the United States from 2014 to 2019.
For a deeper dive into the above-suggested research parts, we recommend further research. Details on our recommended research paths have been provided in our proposals below.