I-85 shutdown adds traffic, costs for logistics firms

Local product delivery is the biggest challenge; shipping rates may rise.

The closed segment of I-85 is a major headache for Atlanta commuters and truckers. But a similar shutdown would’ve been more crippling to the region and Atlanta’s growing logistics sector if it had happened on the Perimeter, according to CBRE Research.

Metro Atlanta is a logistics hub, and warehousing is one of its hottest sectors, fueled in large part by the rise of e-commerce. The region also has a robust manufacturing sector, and trucks are a vital way of getting product to market.

Most big rigs traveling through the area are supposed to use I-285 as a bypass. But more vehicles will hit the Perimeter to get around the I-85 closure, CBRE senior analyst Toby Jorgensen said, and that’ll mean longer trip times for commuters and logistics firms alike.

It could have been worse, he said. If an incident jammed up the Perimeter for two months, those trucks would have to go somewhere.

The bigger test for many shippers will be local product delivery, Jorgensen said. UPS, FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service will have to adjust their routes. So will other service providers.

I-85 is a key route into the city for all sorts of suppliers, and surface streets will see heavier than normal congestion until the bridges at I-85 and Piedmont Road are reopened.

“The hardest part is the lastmile consumer and business delivery,” Jorgensen said.

Some consumers can avoid congestion by taking MARTA or telecommuting. That’s not an option for businesses that must get product from Point A to Point B.

Last week, Kelly Frey, a vice president of product marketing for tech firm Telogis, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the unit cost per mile for shipping through the Atlanta area could go up in some cases by 10 percent to 20 percent.

Telogis, which is owned by Verizon, provides way-finding technology for commercial truckers that works kind of like the popular smartphone app Waze.

Some of the added cost will be eaten by shippers, and some will be passed along.

Consumers “won’t feel it immediately at the grocery store,” Frey said. “But somehow that (cost of ) congestion will need to be absorbed.”