Operational and Low-Cost Improvements to Freight Transportation System Performance

The infrastructure for moving freight in the United States is well established but overburdened. Dramatically increasing congestion inflicts costs on shippers, consumers, and the environment. Because expansions to the system are often complicated and expensive, both the public and private sector benefit from making the best use of the existing system, either through improved operations or by enhancing the system using low-cost techniques. Targeted investment and improved operations by both private businesses and government will be required to avert even more severe capacity constraints. The objective of this project is to describe successful practices in maximizing the utility of the existing freight transportation infrastructure, either through operational practices or relatively inexpensive system enhancements. The research should examine each element of each mode for weakness or failure and then describe the operational practice or system enhancement used to strengthen it and do the same for the linkages between the modes so that a full picture of the system emerges. These practices may be mode-specific or logistical. The practices should be related to the different types of constraints in freight flow and the description should indicate whether implementation depends on the private sector, public sector, or both. Operations and ITS alternatives such as routing and time of day adjustments made by carriers as well as targeted infrastructure improvements such as those done by the State of Ohio's interchange upgrade program should be included. It is expected that some successful practices are proprietary, but that a sufficient number of nonproprietary practices will be found to justify this effort.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=1576
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Contract to a Performing Organization has not yet been awarded.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Proposed
• Funding: $500000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  NCFRP 04

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Research and Innovative Technology Administration

  University Transportation Centers Program
  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  National Cooperative Freight Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC    20001
• Project Managers:

  Lemer, Andrew

• Start Date: 20070703
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• Source Data: RiP Project 13664

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Congestion management systems; Freight service; Freight traffic; Freight traffic measurement; Freight transportation; Research projects; Shipping
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Highways; Motor Carriers; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01543773
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Cooperative Freight Research Program
• Contract Numbers: NCFRP 04
• Files: RIP
• Created Date: Nov 21 2014 1:05AM