National Freight Advisory Committee Being Formed

In an effort to improve our national freight system, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced last week the establishment of a National Freight Advisory Committee. The committee will be providing recommendations to improve the current system.

“Our freight system is the lifeblood of the American economy,” said Secretary LaHood. “We must ensure that our freight system is stronger and better connected.” 

The recent transportation bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, or MAP-21, signed by President Obama in July 2012, established a national freight policy and called for the creation of a National Freight Strategic Plan. The plan calls for engaging stakeholders representing diverse geographic, modal, and policy interests, such as safety, labor and the environment. The freight committee will provide recommendations to the Secretary of Transportation on how DOT can improve its freight transportation policies and programs.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is soliciting nominations for members of the National Freight Advisory Committee. The committee will be comprised at least 25 voting members from outside of DOT who have various perspectives on freight transportation, including mode, region, policy areas, freight customers and providers, and government entities, and will meet at least three times per year.

DOT also proposed the process through which the DOT will designate a national freight network to better focus attention on the highways most critical to the movement of goods. The Secretary will designate the most critical existing interstates and roads as the primary freight network. This network will consist of up to 27,000 miles of existing interstate and other roadways. It will also include the possible addition of 3,000 miles of existing and planned roadways necessary for the efficient movement of goods in the future. 

U.S. freight travels over an extensive multi-modal network that includes highways, railroads, waterways, pipelines and airways. The Department is requesting comments on the proposed process. Instructions on how to submit comments are available in the Federal Register notice available here: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-02-06/html/2013-02580.htm.

Additional information on the National Freight Advisory Committee is available here: http://www.freight.dot.gov/freight_nfac.cfm.