As Helene keeps key roads closed, Trimble’s routing service is making adjustments

To handle those diversions, truckers are turning to their routing software — the second time in six to seven months they’ve had to do so due to major closures. In the first case, the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore the decision was not that difficult: Take the two tunnels that go under the Baltimore Harbor or continue on Interstate 695 around the western part of the Baltimore metropolitan area.

But the significant loss of access to two interstates, not to mention US highways, poses a much more difficult problem. For example, the North Carolina Department of Transportation Friday reported approximately 415 road closures and at least 120 bridges that needed to be replaced in this state alone.

Rishi Mehra, vice president of commercial technology for mapping and routing at Trimble, works with the segment of the technology company that offers CoPilot, which is essentially a routing service for trucks and other vehicles.

In a recent interview with FreightWaves, Mehra said that truckers’ ability to work around disruptions is “starting to look a lot better.”

“We started diverting traffic as directed to go a little bit south and then north,” he said.

The instructions are uploaded to the Trimble CoPilot system and serve as the basis for rerouting truck traffic around closed roads. PC Miler is Trimble’s companion software that runs in the trucking company’s back office; The co-pilot is in the cab of the truck.

Returning to the US highway

Mehra told Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) “takes advantage of US highways.” He added that the diversion routes were not created solely by Trimble, but after consultation with local authorities on where they preferred vehicles, particularly trucks, to travel to avoid road closures.

For example, US 19 parallels Interstate 26 most of the way from Asheville, North Carolina to the Tennessee line. US Highway 25 also runs from the Asheville area into Tennessee, although it enters the Volunteer State a considerable distance from where I-26 crosses the border.

Mehra noted that the interstates around Asheville itself are open. “It helps ease traffic flow in other areas,” he said, calling it more “structured.” “We are liaising with local authorities to ensure we are not diverting traffic which will in any way impede the recovery process.”

According to Mehra, local governments are not necessarily Trimble customers. What Trimble wants from the authorities is “for them to give us information. what do you see What do you model? How can we send trucks from the region? How can we best manage traffic for you?”

The end is not near

The return of full access to two key interstate highways in the region will not happen anytime soon. Months, not weeks, are the main topic of discussion.

This can be good/bad news. For example, North Carolina’s I-26, which despite being even-numbered and usually reserved for east-west freeways, runs mostly north-northwest to south and north of Asheville, is fully open after a brief closure due to Helen.

The problem is that when a driver on 26 approaches the Tennessee line, the vehicle will not be allowed to cross that state because the road is closed near the state line except for local traffic.

So, according to Mark Nagy, a spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Transportation, a truck coming out of North Carolina and heading toward Tennessee 26 should have exited the interstate at exit 3 in North Carolina. Passenger vehicles can continue to travel, but must exit Interstate 26 at exit 40 in Tennessee and then detour through the city of Erwin. Commercial vehicles making local deliveries may continue to move beyond exit 3.

Meanwhile, truck traffic traveling on Interstate 26 from the north, as in the Johnson City, Tennessee area, should exit 26 at exit 37, Nagy said in an email to FreightWaves.

Hopes for I26 traffic in Tennessee

The state hopes to be able to fully reopen I-26 this week, but as a two-lane highway, he added.

“Construction is ongoing on I-26 to get 1 lane in both directions between exits 37 and 40,” Nagy said. “This movement will take place from the western side. Once complete, vital east-west connectivity on the interstate will be restored. Expect that to happen later this week.”

However, wide loads are not allowed. Nagy said those loads take a wide alternate route using Interstates 81 and 77.

Interstate 26 has regulations that allow local vehicles to use the roadway in this area near Erwin, but not for the portion with the two destroyed bridges on 26 that are between exits 37 and 40. Local vehicles can use the interstate after exit 40 until border with North Carolina.

But even on this stretch of Interstate 26 between exit 40 and the state line, aside from local traffic restrictions, the road is a two-lane road with one lane open in each direction.

Meanwhile, Nagy said, Interstate 40 is open in Cocke County, Tennessee, in each direction — one lane on the normal westbound side of the highway — between mile markers 446 and 451, which are just before the state line.

But it is only open to local traffic, a spokesman said. He said any commercial vehicle traveling on I-40 to the North Carolina border should exit at Exit 440.

Across the border, I-40 is closed in both directions in North Carolina from the state line to exit 20.

Aaron Moody, a spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Transportation, said the state recently awarded an $8 million contract to stabilize Interstate 40 before a major reconstruction begins.

He called the debate over when North Carolina’s Interstate 40 could return to normal operation “the million dollar question.”

When asked if I-40 in North Carolina could be converted to a two-lane highway on the part of the road that was not heavily damaged by flooding, as was done in Tennessee on Interstate 26, Moody said that would largely depend on the contractor’s plan. which state will ultimately choose for the final reconstruction of I-40 in the Tar Heel State.

“We can’t answer that with a lot of certainty right now because we don’t know what projects are going to be submitted and we don’t know what the security requirements are going to look like for contractors trying to go in there,” Moody said.

Are shippers understanding?

What happens to repair damaged roads – not just interstates – affects what Trimble does.

Mehra said how the company reroutes may depend on its relationship with the shipper. This relationship may be such that the shipper is willing to accept a deviation of 50 to 100 miles. “So we helped with some of the analysis,” Mehra said. “Some of our customers came back and said, ‘Can you analyze this for us and tell us what the real impact would be if we avoided this segment entirely? and choose another path?” In some cases, he added, shippers fully accept deviations and extra miles.

Relying on US highways has its challenges. On some sections of US highways, traffic is possible without interruptions and at speeds close to interstate highway speeds; others may have a series of red lights.

Mehra said no routing software can fully plan the impact of a red light on a U.S. highway or any local road. But the traffic model is “slowed down,” he said, “to simulate that impact on travel times. But some red lights are inevitable in the regions.”

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