Senate Bill Calls for National Freight Policy

By: William B. Cassidy, The Journal of Commerce

Commentary:

The conversation about a national freight policy has been set within a context of safety, efficiency and environmental protection but there are some much deeper issues at stake. The majority of the freight industry in the US is connected to the highway systems and the trucking industry. The freight railroads have been playing a bigger and bigger role as technology has addressed some of the limitations that have existed in the past. Rail has always been connected closely to the transportation of commodities like coal and food but the involvement with consumer goods and manufactured goods was limited by the willingness of trucking companies and container companies to use the rails.

The more that intermodal is developed the more that trucking becomes a provider of regional and final mile activity and the less that trucking depends on long distance activity. It has been obvious for some time that the trucking industry has few friends among those concerned with emissions reductions and the expense of the highway system. Rail is seen as the most efficient option for shipping long distances but the rules and regulations in place today favor trucks in many cases. The development of a national policy that overtly pushes rail as the safer and more efficient alternative will profoundly affect the future of long distance truck operations.

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