Last week’s Interstate 95 bridge collapse north of Philadelphia—one of I-95’s busiest corridors—will likely cause significant disruptions to our nation’s supply chain, according to Kogod professor Ayman Omar.
Omar, who holds a PhD in supply chain management and logistics, says the accident could have a significant domino effect because of how constrained our supply chain is.
“I-95 covers not only the Northeast but links together multiple industrial centers around the nation,” says Omar. “Other countries transport products via this artery, too.”
The bridge collapsed on June 11 after a tanker truck full of gasoline crashed during a sharp turn and burst into flames. It has shut down traffic in both directions and forced vehicles to detour slower roads.
Since then, crews have worked hard to excavate the damage and rebuild the bridge.
The impact on transportation is significant: 150,000 vehicles, 8 percent of which are trucks, are estimated to use this portion of I-95 daily, according to the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. Omar says this translates to almost 100 billion dollars worth of products a year.
While the bridge will reopen sooner than initially expected—Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro estimates it will be functional again within the next couple of weeks—Omar says we are likely to experience negative economic impacts from the accident still.
In the short-term, this includes sharp price increases, especially around shipping rates, due to delayed lead times—the amount of time it takes for a supplier to prepare goods ready for delivery.
“It's now more expensive to move products, and it takes longer,” says Omar. “That has serious cost implications for companies.”
Omar says this results from a larger systemic problem with our supply chains.
