A bill setting environmental and safety goals for freight industries was introduced by the US Senate on July 22, 2010. This bill, called the “Focusing Resources, Economic Investment, and Guidance to Help Transportation (FREIGHT) Act of 2010â€, would establish an Office of Freight Planning within the Department of Transportation. This office would create a grant program that would fund the freight industry’s many modes of transportation.
The FREIGHT Act is meant to improve freight mobility and help the US to stay competitive in today’s global market. Current conditions have lead to congested ports, highways, airports, and railways. The cost of doing business is currently viewed as too high. Refiguring the freight transportation infrastructure is expected to help create new jobs and improve the competiveness and efficiency of US transportation industries.
Many people support the FREIGHT Act because they see the need for transportation industries to work together. Coordinating efforts to improve efficiency and coherence between rail, air, ocean freight, and trucking industries should make it possible for the US to maximize importing and exporting benefits. The FREIGHT Act would direct the Secretary of the Department of Transportation to create long-term strategies that help all modes of freight transportation meet the goals of the FREIGHT Act.
According to a press release published by the office of Senator Frank Lautenberg, the major goals established by the FREIGHT Act are:
• Reduce delays of goods and commodities entering into and out of intermodal connectors that serve international points of entry on an annual basis.
• Increase travel time reliability on major freight corridors that connect major population centers with freight generators and international gateways on an annual basis.
• Reduce by 10 percent the number of freight transportation-related fatalities by 2015.
• Reduce national freight transportation-related carbon dioxide levels by 40 percent by 2030.
• Reduce freight transportation-related air, water, and noise pollution and impacts on ecosystems and communities on an annual basis.
The FREIGHT Act also would create a new competitive grant program for freight-specific infrastructure projects, such as port infrastructure improvements, freight rail capacity expansion projects, and highway projects that improve access to freight facilities.
The American Trucking Association (ATA) is concerned with the FREIGHT Act, because they feel that it will put them in direct competition with speed rail, ocean shipping, intermodal and port organizations for federal funding. They fear that even environmental groups and trade corridor advocates will have a say in where the money goes.
“Highways, which carry more than 68 percent of the nation’s freight, would not be eligible for funding beyond very limited connectors to freight terminals,†the ATA said. “The highway reauthorization bill is almost a full year past due, and federal aid funding for highways is on the verge of collapse. We need to enact a responsible, comprehensive reauthorization bill.â€
The Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors says that “the intent is to make the system work better across the board†and that the legislation is not “anti-truckâ€.
The ATA is still concerned because a plan that supports so many modes of transportation could leave them out in the cold. The ATA does reiterate that they are committed to working with Congress on a system that does not favor one mode of transport over another.
About the Author: Nelson Cabrera is the Business Development Manager of Lilly & Associates International, a transportaion and logistics company specializing in ocean freight and ocean shipping services. For more information, please visit http://www.shiplilly.com/.
