On July 22, Senator Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ, introduced a new bill aimed at updating and transforming the United States’ freight transportation infrastructure. The Focusing Resources, Economic Investment and Guidance to Help Transportation Act of 2010, or FREIGHT Act (S. 3629) would create:

• A National Freight Transportation Strategic Plan,
• An Office of Freight Planning and Development, and
• National Freight Infrastructure Grants.

According to Lautenberg, the bill is needed to address the country’s “poor planning and underinvestment in our transportation infrastructure,” which — from his perspective — has led to increased congestion at transportation hubs, such as ports, highways, airports, and railways. He also believes the congestion is directly affecting the costs of doing business within the transportation industry

In response, Lautenberg’s goal with the bill is to encourage a more productive freight transportation system in order to help drive the creation of jobs and enable more U.S. businesses to succeed against the “changing needs of the global economy.”  

Many organizations, including the Coalition for America's Gateways and Trade Corridors (CAGTC), the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Transportation for America have already voiced support for the bill; however, others voice concern that the proposed legislation could undermine truckers by potentially trying to push more freight to rail than trucks.

At Getloaded, we are committed to helping our members stay on top of industry developments by offering the commonsense, fact-driven information you deserve.  Before drawing conclusions or making assumptions, be sure to check back on our blog as we continue chronicling and detailing the bill’s developments.

We’ll post our next article on Monday — so stay tuned.