A new study from Altitude by Geotab ranked Denver and Chicago as the most freight-efficient cities in the United States, while Los Angeles and New York fall to the bottom of the list due to chronic congestion and infrastructure challenges.
The Altitude Freight Efficiency Score, released July 16, evaluates nine major U.S. cities using real-world data collected from medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles. The report benchmarks urban freight performance in three key areas: congestion and traffic management, resilience to disruptions, and commercial vehicle idling. The scoring system weights congestion and infrastructure readiness at 60%, resilience at 20%, and infrastructure externalities — primarily idling — at 20%.
Denver earned the highest score at 57 out of 100, followed closely by Chicago at 54. Both cities demonstrated stronger overall performance in managing congestion, minimizing idling, and recovering from traffic disruptions. At the other end of the spectrum, Los Angeles scored just 23, while New York came in at 25, with severe congestion significantly pulling down overall ratings despite some improvements in resilience and idling reduction, according to the report.
The study highlights St. Louis and Salt Lake City as leaders in congestion performance — scoring 44 and 50 points, respectively — due to lower population density and well-planned highway systems. However, Salt Lake City also recorded the highest idling times among the nine cities analyzed.
Atlanta, which closely follows Denver and Chicago, scored just below the top tier at 49. It has relatively predictable traffic but weaker resilience and idling metrics, the report says. Charlotte and Houston fell into the moderate range with scores of 47 and 45, respectively.
“Cities looking to improve their freight efficiency should focus on investments that make traffic patterns more predictable, strengthen emergency response and disruption recovery capabilities, and reduce unnecessary vehicle idling as part of broader sustainability goals,” said Nate Veeh, assistant vice-president of market development at Altitude by Geotab in the related news release.
The company further highlighted the importance freight efficiency for the U.S. economy, saying that trucks are moving 72% of the nation’s freight by tonnage and serving as the sole freight source for more than 80% of American communities.
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