Volpe Center: Transportation Strategic Plans

National Transportation Technology Plan

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9. ENHANCED GOODS AND FREIGHT MOVEMENT AT DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL GATEWAYS

VISION

A more productive national economy afforded by a more flexible, efficient, and seamless freight transportation system.

GOALS

Improve freight mobility at the Nation’s land borders and ports; ensure diffusion of existing freight information technologies and networks; expedite the global flow of goods.

NEAR-TERM OUTCOME

Reduce the percentage of ports reporting landside impediments to the flow of commerce from 40 percent in 1999 to 37 percent in 2001.

MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM

Several trends in the past decade have transformed the way that goods are transported across the globe.

First and foremost is the unprecedented growth in the volume of international trade. NAFTA, in particular, has led to unprecedented growth in trade and land border traffic: U.S. exports to Mexico have grown by 37 percent and to Canada by 34 percent. Laredo, Texas, across the Rio Grande from Mexico, has become the Nation’s largest inland port, handling more than 2,000 loaded tractor trailers a day and over 23,000 passenger cars and buses. The lines formed by vehicles at Laredo’s border inspection gates are a mile long and take several hours to clear.

On highways, truck congestion has reduced freight mobility, with trucks on many key freight arteries accounting for as much as one-fourth of the average daily traffic. Delays due to congested highways are estimated at 2 billion hours per year.

Finally, congestion at container ports creates delays for shippers and increased costs for consumers. This congestion can result from bottlenecks on or near freight terminals or from city- or region-wide surface transportation congestion and inefficiencies.

While congestion is creating freight bottlenecks, the process of moving freight is becoming increasingly information-intensive. Already, information technologies have improved the logistics and management of freight movement and transformed the ability of trading partners to compete in global markets. Automation of terminal operations, for example, has afforded tremendous productivity improvements, while electronic scheduling and dispatch systems have increased both facility capacity and equipment utilization.

REQUIREMENTS

Spurred by ISTEA, TEA-21, and NAFTA, Federal, State, and local agencies are working with the private sector to enhance freight movement at international and domestic gateways. To date, an estimated $4.8 billion has been spent on freight gateway projects, with the Federal share totaling about 24 percent. Such efforts have included:

Gateway, Port Infrastructure, and Advanced Technology Investments: These projects include bridge and tunnel rehabilitation; highway access improvements; terminal structure and layout improvements; port access improvements; and tests of intelligent transportation system (ITS) technologies for electronic clearance of commercial vehicles at Canadian and Mexican land borders.

Investments at Advanced Freight Terminals: Mostly funded privately and by local and state agencies, these investments primarily support improvements at rail terminals, cargo consolidation hubs, and cargo airports.

Building on these efforts, this partnership seeks to facilitate information exchange and technology demonstrations to promote the deployment of innovative logistics practices and information technologies at freight gateways.

INVESTMENT STRATEGY

Participants

Federal: DOT (ITS Joint Program Office and Secretary’s Office of Intermodalism -- lead agencies, FAA, FHWA, FRA, MARAD, RSPA, USCG); DOC; DOD (MTMC); DOE; DOJ (INS); EPA; State; Treasury (U.S. Customs); USDA.

Other: National governments and international societies; State and local agencies; port and airport authorities; industry (air cargo companies, trucking companies, ship operators, railroads, parcel and freight companies, equipment manufacturers, vehicle manufacturers).

Management

Coordinated by the NSTC, Federal participants contribute resources and support as required, seeking ongoing guidance and participation from state, local, and private partners. DOT’s ITS Joint Program Office provides overall leadership and management of this partnership.

Critical Technology Elements and Activities

This partnership involves the activities listed below, as illustrated in the technology roadmap.

Demonstrations and Pilot Programs: These demonstrations are assessing full-scale, integrated technology and logistics improvements at key freight gateways and freight interface points.

Tailored Technology Applications: Supporting the full-scale demonstrations, this activity seeks to apply advanced technologies and practices, such as electronic toll collection, electronic clearance, and smart cards, to specific improvements at freight terminals, ports, border crossings, and trade corridors.

Technology Assessments: The objective of this effort is to characterize the technologies and innovative practices currently available, determine their potential for improving freight mobility, and identify any new improvements that need to be developed.

System Architectures: This involves the development of detailed blueprints for automated freight gateways and trade corridors.

Standards: An integral part of each of the above activities, this work seeks to ensure interoperable and standardized U.S. freight transportation networks.

Information Exchange: An ongoing, crosscutting activity, this involves coordination and information exchange among Federal, state, local, and private partners.

Funding Requirement

Funding will be provided from a mix of Federal, State, and local government and private sources. Federal funding will be determined through the annual budget process.

TECHNICAL CHALLENGES AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES

A major implementation issue for this partnership is the role of the Federal Government in diffusing new technologies and facilitating information exchange, and the willingness of the private sector to work with Federal partners.

In particular, the transfer of innovative technologies and practices developed in the past three or four decades is among this partnership’s foremost opportunities. The Federal role in this process is significant, as new technology has little or no economic significance until there is "innovation," that is, until the technology is adopted and applied. Within the private sector, the decision to innovate is a function of the level of risk and the expected rate of return. Transfer of proven technologies and practices by Federal agencies reduces the risk to industry and generates net economic benefits to society.