Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley — the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton area north of Philadelphia — could well become the new epicenter for trucking, warehousing and distribution for the eastern U.S.
A recent article in The Allentown Morning Call says the area is on a trajectory to turn into the Inland Empire (Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area of California) of the East in the near future.
The article begins:
“With its proximity to the ports of New York, robust interstate system and rapid growth in distribution centers, the Lehigh Valley could be poised to become the nation’s second “Inland Empire” for freight, joining the one just east of Los Angeles, according to an expert panel that gathered Wednesday in Bethlehem for the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission’s annual Build LV development summit at SteelStacks.”
In addition, it asks the question, “Is the Lehigh Valley a trucker’s paradise?”
“The Bureau of Labor Statistics keeps track of occupations and income. Its report on heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers for 2015 shows that Pennsylvania has the third-highest number of such truck drivers after California and Texas.”