Houston really is a trucker’s nightmare

Heavy congestion can mean a lot of things in Houston, but for truckers it amounts to some of the most persistent problems for moving freight.

Nine of the nation’s worst truck bottlenecks are in the Houston area, a slight improvement from 10 last year, according to the American Transportation Research Institute. The institute, a nonprofit supported by the truck industry, annually releases a list of worst spots for trucks, using GPS data from the trucks. Houston, once again was among the metro areas with the most problematic interchanges or segments on the list, tying Atlanta with nine. The Los Angeles area finished just below with eight. Texas’ 13 locations were the most for any state.

“Everything is bigger in Texas, including our traffic challenges,” said Texas Trucking Association President and CEO John D. Esparza, in a news release announcing the findings.

Tropes aside, the ranking shows Houston interchanges rankle truck traffic in a major way, especially in and around downtown and Loop 610.

“You’d think they would avoid it, but the downtown freeways are just packed with trucks,” said David Reynolds, 38, as he waited for a food delivery outside a downtown restaurant.

The reality, however, is the huge amount of goods coming into and out of Houston, and its proximity to many major points of entry for cargo, makes it a web of high-traffic truck routes atop a major metro area teeming with drivers. That is something the Texas Department of Transportation addressed in its revised freight plan, approved last month, including estimates for improvements at the 10 ports of entry in the state.

“Seven ports rank in the top 50 in the United States in terms of total tonnage,” TxDOT spokesperson Raquelle Lewis said in an email response to questions. “Port Houston handled the most volume of all Texas and U.S. ports with over 284 million tons in 2019.”

Three intersections — Interstate 45 at Interstate 69, Interstate 10 at I-45 and I-45 at Loop 610 north of downtown — are all in the top 20 nationally for truck congestion.

“Without a doubt, the presence and ranking of the various segments of I-45 between Houston and Dallas, and more specifically those within the footprint of the (I-45 rebuild) are a clear punctuation of the need for the improvements proposed and planned along the corridor,” Lewis said.