Snowstorm Disrupts Freight Traffic in Northeast

A monster snowstorm that had been predicted to sprawl across the U.S. Northeast fell mostly in New England on Tuesday, news services reported.

Although much of the region did not receive the brunt of the storm, trucking and air freight traffic was still disrupted throughout the region.

Several states declared emergencies that had the effect of curbing general business operations, and Connecticut had banned most big rigs from operating on highways there for Monday and part of Tuesday.

Truck traffic was lighter than usual, The Journal of Commerce Online noted.

In addition, most flights scheduled to leave Boston’s Logan International Airport were canceled, as were many flights from New Jersey’s Newark and New York’s Kennedy and LaGuardia airports.

Those in turn rippled through to cause flight disruptions for passengers and cargo in other regions.

While the storm of course hindered dedicated cargo operations, passenger flight disruptions also impact freight since 60% of cargo moves on passenger flights, the JOC article noted.

Federal Express was only able to operate two of 16 flights from its Newark hub. However, the company diverted many flights to Memphis, Tenn., and was able to make deliveries as planned.

6935