Truckers Face 'Roller Coaster Ride' Year After Key Bridge Collapse

BALTIMORE, MD — The loss of the Francis Scott Key Bridge pushed Baltimore trucking companies, and their employees, to their economic and emotional breaking points. The bridge collapse a year ago not only killed six highway workers, it also endangered the livelihoods of truckers.

Shipping volumes are back to normal, but truckers still face an uphill road to recovery. Lost revenue, increased traffic and elevated expenses continue to challenge transportation companies. Travel times have ballooned by almost 60 percent for some truckers, which could cost the industry nearly $450 million until the bridge is rebuilt.

Dawn Speakman's revenue plummeted to zero when the cargo ship Dali crashed into the Key Bridge on March 26, 2024, destroying a pivotal crossing of the Patapsco River. Her trucking business, Dundalk-based Drayage Solutions, ground to a halt when the Port of Baltimore was largely closed for months during channel cleanup.

The financial setback still weighs on Speakman.

"It's going to be several years before we can financially recoup from this devastating disaster. We're nowhere near financially recovered. It puts a new light on the word 'catastrophic' for me," Speakman told Patch. "There's nothing that I have to compare it to, the stress and the financial burden that this bridge collapse has caused."

Surviving Financial Downturn

Speakman grew up in the shadows of the Key Bridge in Dundalk and Highlandtown. She lived less than five miles from the port throughout her childhood. The disaster jeopardized her company, which she founded in 2018 after a career in warehousing and logistics.

"It immediately affected our business," Speakman said, recalling the fateful day. "I was up from 3 o'clock in the morning for 24 hours trying to figure out what we were going to do. … From there on, it's been a roller coaster ride."

Her company had seven trucks and 14 chassis before the collapse. For a few weeks, the company had no vehicles on the road. Speakman eventually reduced her fleet to around four trucks and nine chassis.

Drayage served a 30-mile radius, moving containers from the port. With the bridge wreckage blocking large cargo shipments until June 2024, Speakman had to get creative.

She sent truckers to the ports of Norfolk and Philadelphia to scrap together some business. Speakman also lobbied for economic relief from the Small Business Administration and the State of Maryland.

With the help of government-sponsored workforce retention aid, Drayage didn't lay off any of its drivers, but the company's pocketbook still feels the pinch.

"My immediate concern was for my drivers," Speakman said. "I have seven families that depend on the paycheck from this business."

The bridge collapse threatened the paycheck of Catonsville resident Evan Waters, a Drayage driver of about five years. Waters often drove between Sparrows Point and Jessup, traversing the Key Bridge en route. With uncertainty ahead, Waters wondered whether he needed to change jobs.

"At first it was very, very scary to even try to conceive the future," Waters said. "That definitely took a toll."

The rough times left Waters concerned about his boss.

"I'm also scared and worried for her. She's like family. I'm looking at her like an auntie about to lose everything," Waters said of Speakman.

With her back against the wall, Speakman managed to retain her entire staff and find intermediate work.

"She was able to work out a miracle," said Waters, who's driven professionally since 2018. "This is the best boss I've ever worked for. This is the best experience with an employer that I've ever had."

Why Consumers Should Care

Trucking is one of Maryland's largest industries. When transportation companies struggle, so does the state's economy. Rising costs can be passed on to end consumers.

The trucking industry supports 132,680 careers in Maryland. That's one in 17 jobs in the state, contributing $8.4 billion in annual wages.

Nearly 93 percent of communities in the state depend exclusively on trucks to move their goods, the Maryland Motor Truck Association trade group said.

"Everything that you own arrived on a truck at some point," MMTA President and CEO Louis Campion said. "Extrapolating the effects that these companies are feeling down to the consumer is always an important thing for us."

The recovery will be rocky for trucking companies, especially smaller ones.

Drayage is just now starting to recover. The business is back up to six trucks and 17 chassis. It may soon roll out a seventh truck, returning the fleet to its pre-collapse size.

December 2024 was the first month that Drayage's revenue was close to normal.

Speakman said her business catastrophe insurance policy didn't cover revenue lost to the bridge collapse, so the downtime ate into her bottom line.

"To go from seven trucks turning revenue every day, every day, to go to zero is catastrophic. Just catastrophic," Speakman said. "We're just getting back to normal with the volume."

Drivers are ready for traffic to ease up. It appears they'll have to wait until October 2028, when the new Key Bridge is expected to open with a price tag of at least $1.7 billion. The federal government is currently committed to paying for the entire rebuild.

"We need to get that bridge back up and running so things can start making sense here again," Waters said.

'Traffic Is Ridiculous'

The spike in traffic remains a top concern for truckers.

The Key Bridge once carried more than 30,000 vehicles daily over the Patapsco River via Interstate 695. Traffic has since diverted to the city's two tunnel crossings.

"Traffic is ridiculous," Waters said. "It turns a 15-minute trip into an hour trip, literally."

Average daily traffic volumes increased by 15 percent at the I-95 Fort McHenry Tunnel and 7 percent at the I-895 Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. That's comparing fall 2024 to the same period in 2023 and 2022, the Maryland Transportation Authority told Patch.

"You know, rush hour starts at 5 o'clock? Not anymore. Rush hour starts at 2," Waters said. "It's not over until it's 6:45, 7 o'clock."

Speakman adjusted pickup and delivery schedules to dodge as much traffic as possible. At this point, the delays are more of an inconvenience than a barrier for Drayage's short-haul routes.

More Miles, More Costs

The spike in traffic is costing the trucking industry millions, according to researchers from the University of Maryland and Morgan State University.

A study that Patch obtained estimated that Baltimore-area trucking costs will rise by $93 million annually. When accounting for inflation, that could bring $446 million in extra expenses by the time the replacement Key Bridge opens in fall 2028.

"That additional time translates into additional cost," said Armand Patella, MMTA executive vice president. "Time is money."

Truckers carrying hazardous materials like gasoline are among the most affected. Flammable loads like these are prohibited in the tunnels, so they must circumnavigate the Baltimore Beltway.

A trip from the Curtis Bay loading terminal to Dundalk was once only a few miles over the Key Bridge. The same trip is now roughly 45 miles around I-695 for gasoline truckers.

Travel times on the west side of the beltway increased by 58 percent for medium-duty trucks and 36 percent for heavy-duty, the study found.

"All of those fuel companies that are picking up ... down in the Fairfield area, they're having to go westbound around 695 and around that whole beltway. That can have a dramatic increase on them as opposed to a port trucking company that still has the available use, typically, of 895 and 95," Campion said.

The study said I-95 is the primary trucking detour, as most truckers previously opted for I-695. Travel times through the Fort McHenry tunnel are up 14 to 19 percent, depending on the truck type. Harbor Tunnel truck travel times rose by 3 to 6 percent.

Trucks guzzle fuel when sitting in congestion. They also need more maintenance thanks to the stop-and-go.

When truckers spend more time in traffic jams, they make fewer deliveries, hurting their efficiency. The MMTA said some companies needed more trucks and drivers to make the same number of deliveries.

Some transportation companies have implemented surcharges or changed their rates to counteract their new operating costs. The spike in expenses forced Drayage to raise prices for some routes.

"Obviously, we had to increase our rates because of fuel. We're incurring additional mileage, additional fuel and additional wear-and-tear on the truck to go around as opposed to a direct shot," Speakman said.

Drayage initially held out on updating its prices, but Speakman realized she couldn't withstand the extra costs for the duration of the bridge rebuild.

"We're talking four years," she said. "We can't incur that charge for four years."