While freight is changing, trucks will continue to carry most of the freight in and through Dutchess County, and we can expect trucking freight volume to continue to grow.

According to the Census Bureau’s latest Commodity Flow Survey, 93 percent of all freight tonnage in New York State is transported by truck. Nationally, trucking freight volume is expected to grow more than 35 percent from 2018 to 2028.  New York State’s Freight Plan estimates that between 2012 and 2040, truck volume on the 84 Corridor (which includes I-84, NY 55, including the Mid-Hudson Bridge, and NY 22 from Route 55 to Putnam County) will increase by 47 percent, truck tonnage will increase by 43 percent, and truck value will increase by 68 percent.

While growth in truck traffic suggests economic vitality, it also stresses our roads and bridges, especially on major highway facilities such as I-84, Route 9, and Route 22. It will be critical to support the expected growth in truck freight by maintaining or improving travel time reliability on our key truck routes, maintaining or improving pavement and bridge conditions on key truck routes, and using technology to manage incidents and direct trucks to the best routes.

We will continue to experience a marked increase in local delivery traffic throughout the county. National research shows that freight deliveries to households now exceed freight deliveries to companies, and the delivery rate to households increased 300 percent over the past four years. This does not include the effects of COVID, which has accelerated the growth in local deliveries. Much of this is due to the growing attraction of e-commerce and on-demand deliveries to households and businesses.

To address this growth will require us to monitor pavement conditions, gather data on local delivery trips and traffic, and plan for delivery and curb space management. Communities will need to work with delivery companies on solutions such as night and weekend deliveries, e-bike delivery, optimized routing, consolidated deliveries, dedicated hubs for package pick-ups, and same-day surcharges.

New York Stewart International Airport may serve an increasingly important role in the movement of air cargo in the region. Recent trends show substantial growth in freight traffic at Stewart Airport, primarily due to shipments by UPS and FedEx. In 2019, Stewart handled over 22,600 tons of freight. Mail freight at Stewart increased from zero tons in 2018 to 18,000 tons in 2019.

To accommodate this expected growth, we will need to maintain and improve freight connections between Stewart Airport and Dutchess County.

Dutchess County’s Hudson Valley Regional Airport could potentially serve as a smaller-scale freight hub for drones or small aircraft. The feasibility of this will depend on maintaining and improving the local road network and considering impacts to adjacent residential areas and environmental assets. Privately-owned public-use airports could also potentially serve as small-scale freight hubs.

Freight is an obvious candidate for the introduction of autonomous vehicles (AVs), and some companies are developing AV technology for their fleets. This includes driverless trucks and delivery vehicles, which are already being tested on the nation’s roads. AV technology is also being explored for freight trains, cargo ships, and drones. It will be important to monitor these trends, understand best practices, and identify potential locations for testing autonomous freight technology. See our Technological Trends section for more on AVs.

Freight will become an increasingly local issue in the future, raising concerns and challenges for our communities. It is important for us to understand freight-related trends and our role in addressing the challenges they bring. Based on what we’ve learned about future freight trends, our role could include the following:

• Develop a regional freight plan with Orange and Ulster counties, including an analysis of future access needs for New York Stewart International Airport.
• Work with our partner agencies to convene a countywide freight summit with elected officials, freight operators, and affected businesses.
• Monitor pavement and bridge conditions on key truck routes and local streets used for deliveries and prioritize needed maintenance and improvement projects.
• Analyze travel time reliability on key truck routes and recommend potential improvements, including appropriate technologies to better manage incidents and re-route trucks to the best routes.
• Gather and analyze data on local delivery trips and traffic, help municipalities plan for local delivery and curb space, and suggest ways for municipalities to work with delivery companies on solutions to traffic impacts.
• Monitor trends in autonomous freight/deliveries, understand best practices, and identify potential locations for autonomous freight technology testing.
• Work with County Public Works to understand plans for the Hudson Valley Regional Airport and potential transportation issues.