National Cooperative Freight Research Program: A Status Report (2009)

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Research Results Digest 1 Subject Areas: IV Operations and Safety, VII Rail, VIII Freight Transportation, IX Marine Transportation January 2009 NATIONAL COOPERATIVE FREIGHT RESEARCH PROGRAM: A STATUS REPORT This is a staff digest of the progress and status of the National Cooperative Freight Research Program, which is administered by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies. The program is managed by Crawford Jencks, Deputy Director, Cooperative Research Programs. Individual contract research projects are managed by William C. Rogers, Senior Program Officer. BACKGROUND The National Cooperative Freight Re- search Program (NCFRP) is a cooperative research program sponsored by the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) and administered by the Trans- portation Research Board. The program was authorized in 2005 with the passage of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). On September 6, 2006, a contract to begin work was executed between RITA and The National Academies. The NCFRP will carry out applied research on problems facing the freight industry that are not being adequately addressed by exist- ing research programs. SAFETEA-LU, in authorizing the NCFRP, called for the de- velopment of a national research agenda addressing freight transportation and for the implementation of a multi-year strate- gic plan to achieve it. The act also states that “the national research agenda shall . . . include research in the following areas: (1) Techniques for estimating and quantifying public benefits derived from freight transportation projects, (2) Alternative approaches to calcu- lating the contribution of truck and rail traffic to congestion on specific highway segments, (3) The feasibility of consolidating ori- gins and destinations for freight movement, (4) Methods for incorporating estimates of international trade into landside transportation planning, (5) The use of technology applications to increase capacity of highway lanes dedicated to truck-only traffic, (6) Development of physical and policy alternatives for separating car and truck traffic, (7) Ways to synchronize infrastructure improvements with freight trans- portation demand, (8) The effects of changing patterns of freight movement on transportation planning decisions related to rest areas, (9) Other research areas to identify and address emerging and future research needs related to freight transportation by all modes.” Program guidance is provided by an Oversight Committee comprised of a rep- resentative cross section of freight stake- holders appointed by the National Research NATIONAL COOPERATIVE FREIGHT RESEARCH PROGRAM Sponsored by the Research and Innovative Technology Administration

Council of The National Academies. The NCFRP Oversight Committee meets annually to formulate the research program by identifying the highest pri- ority projects and defining funding levels and ex- pected products. Research problem statements rec- ommending research needs for consideration by the Oversight Committee are solicited annually, but may be submitted to TRB at any time. See NCFRP website www.TRB.org/NCFRP. INTRODUCTION America’s freight transportation system makes critical contributions to the nation’s economy, se- curity, and quality of life. More than $660 billion (about 6.4 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product) is spent annually to move freight, and the cost and volume of goods movement are crucial to the productivity of the entire U.S. economy. The freight transportation system in the United States is a complex, decentralized, and dynamic network of private and public entities, involving all modes of transportation—trucking, rail, waterways, air, and pipelines. In recent years, the demand for freight transportation service has been increasing fu- eled by growth in international trade; however, bottle- necks or congestion points in the system are exposing the inadequacies of current infrastructure and opera- tions to meet the growing demand for freight. U.S. do- mestic freight, measured by ton mileage, is expected to grow by some 50 percent in the next 20 years. Strategic operational and investment decisions by governments at all levels will be necessary to maintain freight system performance, and will in turn require sound technical guidance based on research. The NCFRP will produce a series of research reports and other products such as guidebooks for practitioners. Primary emphasis will be placed on dis- seminating NCFRP results to the intended end-users of the research: freight shippers and carriers, service providers, suppliers, and public officials. Relevant industry associations will play a key role in making research information available through their commit- tee structures. The NCFRP may arrange for work- shops, training aids, field visits, technology scans, and other activities to ensure that results are implemented by practitioners. THE NCFRP The NCFRP is managed using procedures mod- eled after those used by TRB in managing the Na- tional Cooperative Highway Research Program and other cooperative research programs. TRB solicits potential research problem statements from all par- ties. The NCFRP Oversight Committee selects and prioritizes these research needs based on the fund- ing available. Each selected project is assigned to a panel, appointed by TRB, which provides technical guidance and counsel throughout the life of the proj- ect. Heavy emphasis is placed on including mem- bers representing the intended users of the research products. The panels prepare requests for proposals (RFPs) and select contractors, guide the projects, and review reports. Day-to-day program manage- ment is provided by NCFRP staff and includes the following tasks: • Assisting the Oversight Committee in identify- ing and prioritizing research needs; • Appointing and coordinating expert technical panels to guide research projects; • Developing and distributing RFPs; • Processing and evaluating proposals to select the best qualified research agencies; • Executing contracts with the selected re- searchers; • Guiding the research; • Reviewing research reports; • Publishing and disseminating research re- ports; and • Promoting the application of research results. SELECTION OF RESEARCH PROJECTS The NCFRP Oversight Committee meets annually to select research projects that will inform investment and operations decisions affecting the performance of the freight transportation system. The membership of this committee is given in Table 1. The Oversight Committee met in 2006, 2007, and 2008 and selected 28 projects for funding. Table 2 is a list of the projects—see NCFRP website for details. 2

3Table 1 NCFRP Oversight Committee Chair Michael Huerta ACS Transportation Solutions Vice Chair C. Randal Mullet Con-Way, Inc Secretary Christopher W. Jenks TRB Member Lillian Borrone Consultant Member Larry L. Brown Mississippi DOT Member Thomas M. Corsi University of Maryland Member Coty Dupre Dupre Transport LLC Member Robert L. Flanagan First Southwest Company Member Emil Frankel Consultant Member John T. Gray Association of American Railroads Member Rodney Gregory Department of Defense Member Jeffrey D. Holt Consultant Member John Isbell Nike, Inc. Member Gloria J. Jeff Consultant Member Thomas Jensen United Parcel Service Member Michael D. Meyer Georgia Institute of Technology Member Gregory G. Nadeau Maine DOT Member Paul Nowicki BNSF Railway Member Craig Philip Ingram Barge Line Member Cecil Selness Minnesota DOT Ex officio Paul Brubaker Research and Innovative Technology Administration Ex officio Thomas J. Madison, Jr. Federal Highway Administration Ex officio Tyler D. Duvall U.S. Department of Transportation Nonvoting Observer Thomas Bolle Research and Innovative Technology Administration Nonvoting Observer Anthony T. Furst Federal Highway Administration Nonvoting Observer John Horsley AASHTO Nonvoting Observer Joseph Nicklous Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Nonvoting Observer Leo Penne AASHTO Nonvoting Observer Caesar Singh Research and Innovative Technology Administration Nonvoting Observer John Steinhoff Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Nonvoting Observer Martin Walker Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

4Table 2 NCFRP Research Projects, FY 2006–2009* NCFRP 01 Review and Analysis of Freight Transportation Markets and Relationships NCFRP 02 Impacts of Public Policy on the Freight Transportation System NCFRP 03 Performance Measures for Freight Transportation NCFRP 04 Identifying and Using Low-Cost and Quickly Implementable Ways to Address Freight-System Mobility Constraints NCFRP 05 Framework and Tools for Estimating Benefits of Specific Freight Network Investment Needs NCFRP 5A A Strategy for Investing in Priority Categories of Freight Projects NCFRP 06 Freight Demand Modeling to Support Public-Sector Decision Making NCFRP 6A Design Competition for New Approaches to Freight Demand Modeling NCFRP 6B Peer Exchange on Developing Freight Modeling Capacity NCFRP 09 Institutional Arrangements in the Freight Transportation System NCFRP 10 Separation of Vehicles—CMV-only Lanes NCFRP 11 Identification and Evaluation of Freight Demand Factors NCFRP 12 Specifications for Freight Transportation Data Architecture NCFRP 13 Developing High Productivity Truck Corridors NCFRP 14 Truck Drayage Practices NCFRP 15 Understanding Urban Goods Movement NCFRP 16 Representing Freight in Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Models NCFRP 17 North American Marine Highway Operations NCFRP 18 Synthesis of International Freight Scans NCFRP 19 Truck Tolling—The Role of Freight Markets and Industry Characteristics in Decision Making NCFRP 20 Resources and Procedures for Developing Local Commodity Flow Databases NCFRP 21 Accessing Private Data for Transportation Planning: Effective Practices and Promising Options NCFRP 22 Applications of Benefit-Cost Analysis to Freight Project Selection: Lessons from the Corps of Engineers NCFRP 23 Understanding the Transportation Factors and Economics of Locating Freight Intermodal and Warehouse Distribution Facilities NCFRP 24 Preserving and Protecting Freight Infrastructure and Routes NCFRP 25 Generation and Attraction of Freight by Land Use Characteristics NCFRP 26 Strategies for Measuring Costs of Freight Transportation NCFRP 27 Industry Benchmarking as a Tool to Promote Environmental Goals in Freight Transportation NCFRP 28 Truck Idling Scoping Study * See the NCFRP website for project status at www.trb.org/CRP/NCFRP/NCFRP.asp