Enhancing the Impact of the Freight Academy via Academic Collaboration 2015

Building on successful collaboration in 2014, this proposal seeks to strengthen the working relationship between the I-95 Corridor Coalition Freight Academy and the National Transportation Center at Maryland (NTC@Maryland). As increasing demands are pushing the aging transportation infrastructure to its limits, the safe and efficient movement of people and goods has become a challenge. In addition, many of the experienced members of the freight community are scheduled to retire within the next five to 10 years (I-95 Corridor Coalition, 2014). Recognizing the need to train and educate freight professionals on the latest strategies in the goods movement industry, the I-95 Corridor Coalition established the Freight Academy in 2008. Since then, the Freight Academy has produced 120 graduates that have gone on to improve the planning and operations of freight movement for their respective agencies. The graduates include representatives from local, state, federal and international transportation agencies. The I-95 Corridor Coalition Freight Academy offers a one week total immersion program geared toward training public sector transportation professions. The cost to attend is $3,500, which covers all activities, field trips, food, and lodging (I-95 Corridor Coalition, 2014). However, travel to and from the Academy is the responsibility of the student or the student's agency. Traditionally, the Academy is offered every other year to thirty students selected from a list of nominated candidates. However, due to increasing demand for trained freight professionals the Freight Academy will be offered in 2015. This event will mark the first time that the Academy will be held in consecutive years. Though the success of the Freight Academy is unparalleled, the cost to run the academy forces the I-95 Corridor Coalition to make the most of a limited budget. These costs include event planning, attracting top quality instructors, reviewing attendee applications, overseeing the progress of the students' capstone projects, and evaluation of the capstone project final reports and associated presentations. In light of these constraints, the NTC@Maryland seeks to collaborate with the Freight Academy by offering academic resources and student scholarships. These contributions will allow the Academy to continue to keep their top quality instruction accessible to the freight professionals who impact the future of the industry.

• Record URL:
  http://ntc.umd.edu/node/97

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $44024
• Contract Numbers:

  DTRT13-G-UTC30

  NTC2015-SU-T2-01

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Transportation Center @ Maryland

  1173 Glenn L. Martin Hall
  University of Maryland
  College Park, Maryland  United States  20742

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Zhang, Lei

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Maryland, College Park

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  1173 Glenn Martin Hall
  College Park, MD  United States  20742
• Principal Investigators:

  Chen, Xiqun

  Zhang, Lei

  Franz, Mark

• Start Date: 20150101
• Expected Completion Date: 20151231
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• Source Data: RiP Project 40373

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aging (Materials); Education and training; Freight traffic; Infrastructure; Professional personnel
• Identifier Terms: I-95 Corridor Coalition
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Education and Training; Freight Transportation; Policy;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01578323
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Transportation Center @ Maryland
• Contract Numbers: DTRT13-G-UTC30, NTC2015-SU-T2-01
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Oct 21 2015 10:46AM