TDOT Teams with AASHTO, DOT Neighbors to Release National Freight Report
Thursday, July 08, 2010 | 07:52am
Report Identifies Projects to Improve Freight Delivery & Dependability
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely joined the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and transportation leaders from Arkansas and Mississippi in Memphis for the release of a new report on the nation’s freight system. The “Unlocking Freight” report identifies key projects in 30 states, including Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas, which would improve freight delivery and dependability.
According to the report, overall freight demand will double in the next 40 years, from 15 billion tons today to 30 billion tons by 2050. Freight carried by trucks will increase 41 percent while rail is expected to increase 38 percent from today’s quantities. The number of trucks on the road is expected to double in order to handle increased freight demands. Due to these dramatic increases, the report finds the nation’s highways, railroads, ports, waterways, and airports require investments well beyond the current levels to maintain – much less improve – their performance.
“To accommodate this predicted growth in freight movement, we need to think nationally, regionally, and on a multi-modal level,” said TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely. “Central to this effort should be the creation of a National Multimodal Freight Plan to ensure that transportation investments are coordinated and made where most needed. By linking trucks, rail, waterway transport, and aviation, freight can be moved more efficiently throughout the nation.”
AASHTO President and Mississippi DOT Executive Director Larry L. “Butch” Brown said, “The simple fact is: no transportation, no economy. They are inseparable. We must invest to maintain and strengthen the American ‘transconomy. ’ Congress must invest in all transportation modes; from waterways to roads and rails to get us where we need to be as a competitive nation. Millions of jobs and our nation’s long-term economic health depend on it.”
The report identifies the 1,000 miles of most heavily traveled highways used by trucks. Eighty-eight percent are located in just six states – Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, California, Texas, and Pennsylvania. Overall, the report shows that 10 highway interchange bottlenecks cause more than a million truck-hours of delay per year. These bottlenecks already add millions of dollars to the cost of food, goods, and manufacturing equipment for American consumers.
“It’s unfortunate that many of the 35 million travelers who hit the road for the Fourth of July holiday this past weekend spent hours of their vacation time stuck in traffic,” said John Horsley AASHTO’s executive director. “Ten thousand commercial trucks face that kind of gridlock everyday.”
Each year, 147 million tons of freight passes through Tennessee by way of trucks, rail cars and barges. In fact, nearly half of Tennessee’s Gross Domestic Product comes from the movement of goods and more than half of the statewide employment is in goods-dependent industries. The segment of I-40 through Tennessee and Arkansas alone accounts for nearly one-third of the nation’s busiest truck miles.
"Investments in our vital roadway system are simply not keeping pace with demand," said Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department Director Dan Flowers. "Between 1980 and 2006, traffic on the Interstate Highway System increased 150 percent, while Interstate capacity increased by just 15 percent. We must invest in our interstates, national highways and major freight corridors in order to unlock gridlock, generate jobs and deliver freight."
A current strain on the movement of freight in the Tri-State region is the lack of vehicular and rail crossings along the Mississippi River. Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas are currently working to develop a third Mississippi River bridge crossing, a southern gateway in the region. Environmental studies on the project are now underway and include consideration of a multi-use bridge that would include both vehicle and rail access. This bridge would be built to modern building standards - including seismic standards.
“Unlocking Freight” is the second in a series of reports generated by AASHTO to identify the need to increase capacity in our transportation system. For more information and to see state examples of freight capacity needs, go to http://expandingcapacity.transportation.org or visit http://news.transportation.org/press_release.aspx?Action=ViewNews&NewsID=326
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For More Information Contact:
Julie Oaks
TDOT Public Information Officer
Julie.A.Oaks@tn.gov
615-741-9930