Truckers Vote Hurricane-Wracked Louisiana Roads the Nation's Worst

Annual survey also ranks best roads, best and worst car drivers.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala., Dec. 11 -- For the first time in the report's 16-year history, Louisiana grabbed the Worst Roads crown in this year's Highway Report Card, a survey conducted by Overdrive, the trucking industry's leading magazine for owner-operators. Louisiana is a veteran of the Top Five Worst Roads list.

John Clark of Bradenville, Pa., hauls produce for FST Logistics. Although he runs through Pennsylvania - the state most frequently at the head of the Worst roads list and a close second this year - he says I-10 alone is bad enough to qualify Louisiana for the top spot. "It's awful," he says, citing the potholes and bumps.

In the voting on "toughest truck inspections and law enforcement," California reigns at the top of the toughest, as it has for years. Alabama's enforcement ranks as the weakest.

I-40 in Tennessee was lauded as the best road in America, beating I-20 in Texas by more than two percentage points. But perhaps the biggest winner this year was the state of Arkansas. The stretch of I-40 that runs the entire 284- mile width of the state was named the most improved road and a five-year overhaul of its interstate system has left Arkansas out of the Worst Roads' top five for the first time in a decade.

Trailing Louisiana by only two-tenths of a percent for its typical top spot in the worst-roads category was Pennsylvania. Owner-operators cited various improvements in the Keystone State, particularly to I-80. Other survey highlights:

   -- Most respondents said road rage had increased over the year, as more
      and more vehicles battle for the same space.
   -- California retained the dubious honor of having the worst automobile
      drivers, with New York and Illinois trading second and third spots
      this year.
   -- Texas again had the best drivers and, by a significant margin over
      Florida, best roads overall.

More than 400 readers responded to this year's survey. Each category is based on a separate question.

  WORST ROADS               BEST ROADS

  1. Louisiana              1. Texas
  2. Pennsylvania           2. Florida
  3. California             3. Tennessee
  4. Illinois               4. Georgia
  5. Michigan               5. Virginia

  WORST ROAD                BEST ROAD

  1. I-10 Louisiana         1. I-40 Tennessee
  2. I-80 Pennsylvania      2. I-20 Texas
  3. I-40 Arkansas          3. I-75 Florida
  4. I-5 California         4. I-80 Ohio
  5. I-40 Oklahoma          5. I-81 Virginia

  MOST IMPROVED ROAD

  1. I-40 Arkansas
  2. (tie) I-44 Missouri & I-80 Pennsylvania
  3. I-70 Missouri
  4. I-30 Arkansas
  5. I-10 Texas

  WORST FOUR-WHEELERS

  1. California
  2. New York
  3. Illinois
  4. New Jersey
  5. Florida

  BEST FOUR-WHEELERS

  1. Texas
  2. Montana
  3. California
  4. Wisconsin
  5. Tennessee

  TOUGHEST TRUCK INSPECTIONS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT

  1. California
  2. Ohio
  3. Virginia
  4. Pennsylvania
  5. Texas

  WEAKEST TRUCK INSPECTIONS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT

  1. Alabama
  2. Oklahoma
  3. Texas
  4. West Virginia
  5. Nevada