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ATRI Releases Annual List of Top Truck Bottlenecks

Chattanooga is in the Top 10 on a list of America’s most congested truck bottlenecks in 2021.

Arlington, Virginia – The American Transportation Research Institute released its annual list highlighting the most congested bottlenecks for trucks in America.

The 2021 Top Truck Bottleneck List measures the level of truck-involved congestion at over 300 locations on the national highway system. The analysis, based on truck GPS data from over 1 million freight trucks uses several customized software applications and analysis methods, along with terabytes of data from trucking operations to produce a congestion impact ranking for each location. ATRI’s truck GPS data is also used to support the U.S. DOT’s Freight Mobility Initiative. The bottleneck locations detailed in this latest ATRI list represent the top 100 congested locations, although ATRI continuously monitors more than 300 freight-critical locations.

For the third year in a row, the intersection of I-95 and SR 4 in Fort Lee, New Jersey is once again the Number One freight bottleneck in the country. The rest of the Top 10 includes:

  1. Fort Lee, New Jersey: I-95 at SR 4

  2. Cincinnati: I-71 at I-75

  3. Atlanta: I-285 at I-85 (North)

  4. Atlanta: I-20 at I-285 (West)

  5. Houston: I-45 at I-69/US 59

  6. Chicago: I-290 at I-90/I-94

  7. Chattanooga, Tennessee: I-75 at I-24

  8. St. Louis: I-64/I-55 at I-44

  9. Rye, New York: I-95 at I-287

  10. San Bernardino, California: I-10 at I-15

ATRI’s analysis, which utilized data from 2020, found that while there were COVID-related impacts on traffic across the country as car drivers stayed at home, the year was not without severe congestion. Average truck speeds at a fourth of the bottlenecks on ATRI’s list were 45 MPH or less, reflecting both a return to pre-pandemic freight demand throughout the year and the impact of numerous roadway construction projects in 2020.

For access to the full report, including detailed information on each of the 100 top congested locations, please visit ATRI’s website at TruckingResearch.org.


ATRI is the trucking industry’s 501c3 not-for-profit research organization. It is engaged in critical research relating to freight transportation’s essential role in maintaining a safe, secure and efficient transportation system.