I-95 Bridge Collapse Threatens Higher Store Prices

The collapse of a section of Interstate-95 in northeast Philadelphia on Sunday, June 11, and the delays in repairing it and reopening that strip of the road, might cause higher store prices for several food items. Trucks now need to follow longer, slower routes to deliver goods, experts said.

A bridge on I-95, one of the busiest roads in the U.S., collapsed after a tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons of gasoline crashed and burst into flames beneath it. The driver, identified as 53-year-old Nathan Moody, was killed in the crash.

Efforts to rebuild the I-95 section destroyed by the accident are expected to take months, according to authorities. However, the repair works are being treated as an emergency, with $7 million in state funds allotted. Now truckers face a 40-mile detour packed with more than 60 traffic lights, according to the American Trucking Association (ATA).

"As of right now, long-haul freight is moving by avoiding the area, so we're looking at local delays, but not an inability to move goods," an ATA spokesperson told Newsweek. "I-95 is obviously a critical corridor for commerce and commuters, so any disruption is likely to have significant impacts on the supply chain."

Roughly eight to nine percent of vehicles passing through this part of the interstate are commercial trucks, according to ATA—about 14,000 vehicles based on the group's most-recent estimates.

"This will add significant cost in time, fuel and delays, so we urge state and federal agencies to target appropriate resources to repairing and replacing this highway as quickly as possible," the ATA spokesperson said.

The collapse of the bridge is taking a toll on regional businesses, which rely on the stricken I-95 for their supply deliveries.

Dietz & Watson, one of the food transport companies using the I-95, told Newsweek that, while detours seem to be working better after only a few days since the collapse of the bridge, "there are certainly still delays for employees and carriers."

Steve Riley is communications and partnerships manager at Dietz & Watson. He said the company always works to avoid price increases and doesn't see the collapse of the bridge affecting any pricing, "but again, it is increasing time getting in and out of our plant and distribution center for employees and carriers."

Mike Prince is a publicist for Riverwards Produce grocery stores' owner Vincent Finazzo. He told Newsweek that the company is still "able to get all of our deliveries, but delays are very much an issue."

Riverwards Produce's delivery trucks are "being forced to take alternate routes, as are our customers, and it's making it difficult on everyone," Finazzo said. "We're seeing more traffic on our residential streets including semi-trailers where you normally don't see many."

Almost all of Riverwards Produce's products are local, and that includes food and beverage from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.

"There are a number of distributors that are New York-based that are really struggling to make it to Philadelphia," Finazzo said. "We could potentially see a temporary increase in pricing of certain items depending on how long this continues, and how difficult it is for some of our purveyors to get into Philadelphia."

Finazzo "wouldn't be able to name any specific food items" whose price might increase in the coming weeks, but said that Riverwards Produce is monitoring the situation every day and trying to keep business as normal as possible.

"We're still going to continue to sell the freshest produce in Philadelphia, and continue to try everything we can to make shopping and deliveries as seamless as possible for everyone involved in our business," Finazzo said.

Update 6/20/23, 2:50 a.m. ET: This article was updated to attribute quotes on behalf of Riverwards Produce to Vincent Finazzo.