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02/19/2008 - Long-haul Truckers Rate Nation’s Roads
Few other professionals are as uniquely positioned to rate the nation’s roads as long-haul truckers. They have a cabs-eye view of all the potholes, cracks, traffic and construction in the nation. For the last 13 years Overdrive magazine has been asking them to identify the nation’s best and worst roads.
“Truckers are experts on roads,” Linda Longton, Overdrive magazine editor said in a release announcing the survey results. “They spend more than 300 days on the road hauling 60 percent of all U.S. freight. I don’t know of any other travelers that would know our roads better.”
For the second year in a row, truckers participating in the Overdrive survey slammed Arkansas, ranking its roads the worst in the nation. Illinois, Pennsylvania and Louisiana rounded out the top four states on the worst roads list. New York and Michigan tied for the fifth position. Truckers cited potholes, patches, cracks, traffic and construction as the reasons for the poor rankings.
Though still ranked third worst, Pennsylvania also took top honors in the most-improved roads category. The state previously topped the worst list for seven consecutive years from 1991 to 1998. Other states earning the most improved status are Louisiana, Texas and Illinois.
Florida, which ranked as the fifth most improved, also topped the best roads by state category. Tennessee was named second best and Texas and Georgia tied for third, while Pennsylvania and Indiana rounded out the top five. Best roads by segment were Interstate 75 through Florida; Interstate 75 through Georgia; Interstate 10 through Texas; Interstate 40 from Memphis to Knoxville, Tennessee; and Interstate 39 from Bloomington to Rockford, Illinois.
Arkansas also figured prominently in the part of the survey that identified the nation’s worst stretches of road. Interstate 40 through Arkansas topped the worst roads by segment list, and was followed by Interstate 94 in Chicago, Interstate 10 through Louisiana, Interstate 70 from Kansas City to St. Louis and Interstate 30 from Little Rock to Texarkana, Arkansas. Most improved segments were Interstate 80 through Pennsylvania, Interstate 20 through Louisiana, Interstate 55 through Illinois, Interstate 10 through Texas and Interstate 81 through Pennsylvania.
Nearly 400 truckers participated in Overdrive’s 13th annual survey of the best and worst roads in the nation. Approximately 30 percent of respondents drive through the 48 contiguous states, with the remaining hauling regionally.
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