History of Trucking: The Interstate Highway System

More than 60 years ago, construction began in what is perhaps one of the greatest public works projects in the history of the United States, one that changed the trucking industry in America forever: the Interstate Highway System.

It’s hard to imagine today but before 1956, when the Federal-Aid Highway Act signed by President Dwight Eisenhower approved its construction, the United States was connected by a complex patchwork of state highways, country roads and city streets that made cross-country travel slow and inefficient.

The Interstate Highway System was conceived to be an Interconnected network of modern highways that would allow cars and trucks to travel at faster speeds and to bypass towns and rural areas that were on the way to the final destination.

This innovation made road travel safer and more efficient. For example, if a truck had to make a delivery from Dallas to New York City, it no longer had to go through every town on the way. The Interstate System allowed them to zoom past states until the specific exit closest to the final delivery location.

The Interstate not only brought a boom in American trucking. It also changed the country culturally by making distances between different states shorter and spurring a nationwide interest in cross-country travel and tourism.

Just like the Interstate Highway System, at Quickload we’re all about innovations that make the trucking industry quicker and more efficient.

Learn how our platform can improve your supply chain in a matter of minutes.

Content Creator: Pablo Torres