Soaking rains will slow down truckers this week across the eastern U.S., including one of the country’s busiest freight markets.
Areas of heavy rainfall are developing along a cold front that, as of Monday morning, stretches from the Upper Midwest to the lower Mississippi Valley. The front, and associated rainfall, will move through the eastern third of the country from Monday through early Wednesday.
During this time frame, some places from Georgia to southern New England could get drenched with up to 6 inches of rainfall. With the rain coming down hard and fast over a fairly short period of time, localized flash flooding is possible.
Drivers will feel the most impact along the Atlanta-to-Philadelphia lane, including the Interstate 85 and 95 corridors.
According to the latest data from FreightWaves, a lot of drivers may be headed to Atlanta to pick up loads. Atlanta is one of the busiest freight markets in the U.S., ranking second regarding outbound volumes (OTVI) offered by shippers. This is shown in the tree map below, where the highest values appear in the upper left corner. Despite a slight decrease in outbound volumes from Saturday into Sunday, Atlanta is still a major player.
Other notable weather this week
Windy conditions will continue Monday from the Arklatex region to the Southwest. The strongest gusts of 55 to 70 mph will make driving risky from western Texas to southern New Mexico. This includes locations such as El Paso and Guadalupe Pass, Texas. Blowing dust may reduce visibility in some spots.
Large wildfires continue to burn from northern California into Oregon. Some are close enough to the I-5 corridor that smoke may reduce visibility in some areas.