America’s Roads Are Crammed With Trucks

ATLANTA—Trucks are taking over American roads, fueled by a rise in pandemic online shopping and disruptions to global supply chains.

Along the way they’re chewing up pavement, adding to congestion and infuriating residents, who must contend with 18-wheelers and delivery trucks as soon as they pull out of their driveways. They’re also causing headaches for state and local governments that face multibillion-dollar bills to finance road upkeep and expansions.

The thousands more delivery trucks on neighborhood streets and tractor trailers on interstate highways are solving one problem by creating another.

“Folks don’t like them in their neighborhoods,” said Seth Millican, a transportation expert at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. “But they want the package they order from Amazon and they want it in two days.”

Those strains converge in Atlanta’s Riverside neighborhood, home to Dustin Hillis, a city council member, who has spent years trying to keep tractor trailers off its residential streets.