Synthesis of Findings from the AASHTO/FHWA Survey and Meeting

Executive Summary

The American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) co-hosted the AASHTO-FHWA Freight Partnership II meeting on February 14–16, 2007 in Natchez, Mississippi. Meeting participants represented State Departments of Transportation (DOT), metropolitan planning organizations (MPO), FHWA division offices, FHWA Headquarters, and the private sector. This meeting was a follow-on to the Freight Partnership conference held in Columbus, Ohio in April 2005 and was held with the purpose of:

Developing an understanding of the institutional and organizational changes needed to establish permanent freight capacity within organizations.
Identifying successes in building freight champions.
Developing an understanding of modal and private sector issues.
Identifying successes in moving from planning to project implementation.
Developing strategies and tactics to pursue the National Freight Policy.
Identifying Freight Professional Development topical needs and preferred delivery mechanisms.

Background

Between 2000 and 2002, the FHWA Office of Freight Management and Operations (HOFM) conducted extensive outreach with freight stakeholders from both the public and private sectors to learn what was needed to enable freight transportation projects to better compete in the project selection process. The responses heard emphasized the need for better coordination and cooperation between the public and private sectors, new mechanisms for financing freight projects (innovative financing), better data and use of that data, and better professional capacity building. Additionally, the freight community expressed that having someone or several people within each state dedicated to making freight transportation improvements will be a necessity in order to spearhead these improvements.

In April 2005, AASHTO and FHWA jointly sponsored the first Freight Partnership Conference. The goal of this conference was to define a position description framework for a State-Level Freight Coordinator(s) through the identification of the roles and responsibilities of a State-Level Freight Transportation Coordinator, the skill sets required for the Freight Transportation Coordinator position, and the organizational and institutional issues that need to be addressed to better advance freight transportation projects more effectively. To set the stage for this conference, AASHTO conducted a survey of freight professionals in State DOTs to learn about their perspectives on freight transportation priorities and needs. Similarly, FHWA conducted a survey of FHWA Division Office professionals focused on freight transportation. At the conclusion of the conference, participants identified next steps for moving forward to implement the freight coordinator position and resolve the issues that were heard from both the survey and the conference. Participants determined that the development of a national freight policy would be important to fostering the institutional arrangements that are needed to address multi-jurisdictional decision making and investment.

In response to the Freight Partnership Conference, and other outreach activities US DOT developed a draft framework for a national freight policy. This framework lays out a vision and objectives, then details strategies and tactics that the USDOT and its partners, both public and private sector, can pursue to achieve those objectives. However, to be credible and achievable, the framework requires input and buy-in from the broader freight sector, including both public and private sector interests. While the USDOT developed the draft framework for the policy, the goal is for public and private sector stakeholders to add strategies and tactics and take ownership of action items for implementing these strategies and tactics.

The Freight Partnership II meeting was held to build upon the outcomes of the first Freight Partnership conference by populating the national freight policy framework, identifying and sharing the successes in developing champions and permanent capacity that have occurred since the first conference, and identifying freight professional development needs that are necessary in order to build permanent capacity and advance freight transportation. As with the first conference, a survey was held prior to the meeting to identify the state of the practice in freight transportation for State DOTs, FHWA, MPOs, and Regional Councils. The survey gathered information on freight priorities, freight plans, freight professional development needs, awareness of the national freight policy framework, level of permanent capacity, moving from planning to project implementation, participation in freight advisory councils and multi-jurisdictional freight coalitions, and freight needs. The results of this survey were discussed in a web conference prior to the Freight Partnership II meeting and were also used to shape the panel discussions and workshops held during the meeting.

Key Survey Findings

In general, States, FHWA Division Offices, and MPOs/Regional Councils are making great strides in bringing freight to the forefront of transportation planning and project development. The survey results indicate that most respondents view freight as a priority and are either in progress or planning to take on efforts to help improve freight movement for the future. When possible, data was compared to data from the 2005 survey and the numbers show that more organizations are now focused on freight and organizational leadership is increasingly dedicated to advancing freight transportation. The survey also indicated that States, FHWA, and MPOs/Regional Councils share similar concerns about freight, namely congestion and funding, and are increasingly focusing on rail improvement initiatives.

The survey indicated that there is still a need for more freight training and technical assistance, with the level of training and technical assistance varying among the different respondent groups. A common theme throughout the survey responses was the need for more information sharing and outreach in terms of training and technical assistance offerings. In addition, it was evident that FHWA, States, and regions are not always aware of freight related activities at a national level, such as the Draft Framework for a National Freight Policy, or in their area, such as advisory groups and multi-jurisdictional coalitions. As discussed in the next section, this was also heard at the Freight Partnership II meeting.

The survey helped to bring to light the many existing freight advisory groups and multi-jurisdictional coalitions, as well as freight plans that either exist or are in development. This knowledge will be used to provide noteworthy practice information to States and regions that are looking to develop advisory groups and coalitions, as well as freight plans. The need for assistance with the development of freight plans was heard on more than one occasion during the Freight Partnership II meeting.

Conference Outcomes

Key Messages

As the surveys indicated, for the most part organizational leadership and transportation planners now acknowledge and appreciate the growing volumes of freight and the importance of freight movement. Throughout the three-day meeting, participants had the opportunity to listen to a number of public and private sector representatives discuss the future of freight transportation and what they think needs to happen to keep freight moving. Some of the key messages that came out of this meeting were:

Developing a multimodal infrastructure
- In order for the U.S. economy to keep moving ahead and be competitive in a global environment, the transportation system needs an infrastructure that supports domestic and global trade.
- We need to learn to better utilize other forms of transportation besides trucking.
Planning for multi-jurisdictional freight movements – freight is multi-jurisdictional by nature. In order to ensure an efficient freight system we need mechanisms that allow us to plan across geographic boundaries.
Developing freight champions
- Freight champions can come from all levels, there is not a cookie cutter model.
- Having a champion and establishing institutional capacity provides a place for partners to connect.
- A freight champion has passion, is knowledgeable and prepared, is persistent and patient, is visible, and seizes opportunities when they arise.
Developing and nurturing partnerships
- Public-private partnerships work best when there are benefits for both sectors.
- Sharing and partnering is vital to resolving the freight transportation challenge.
Providing training and professional development
- Training and professional development are necessary in order to build a strong workforce dedicated to advancing freight transportation.
- More marketing/outreach is needed on the Freight Professional Development opportunities that exist.
- Start freight professional development early – start it at the Grade School level to develop full awareness of freight at the earliest levels.

Workshop Outcomes

The meeting included two interactive workshops, focused on the Framework for a National Freight Policy and Freight Professional Development. Within the Framework for a National Freight Policy workshop, participants collectively identified:

2 new objectives
1 modification to an existing objective
19 new strategies
29 new tactics
10 revised tactics
55 activities

Within the Freight Professional Development workshop, participants identified four priority freight professional needs:

Engaging with Freight Stakeholders…and Keeping Them Engaged
Freight 101: General Education on Freight
General Freight Planning
- Freight Forecasting
- Freight Data and Performance Measures
Financing Freight Projects

In both workshops, participants stated that more guidance is needed on developing freight plans. Participants wanted to hear about best practices in this area and suggested that FHWA or AASHTO develop guidance, or a framework, for developing a freight plan. As can be seen in the Next Steps section, this is something that FHWA has committed to doing and is currently working on developing.

Next Steps

Although both the survey and the discussion at the meeting indicate that the number of organizations with a freight office/section is increasing, and there is now a higher number of people who feel that they have a moderate to high capacity to understand and address freight transportation needs, it is important that organizations continue to focus on these areas in order to continue to advance freight movement. The next steps identified during the meeting, as shown in Table 1, are meant to help States, FHWA, and MPOs/Regional Councils maintain the momentum for improving freight transportation.

Table 1 – Next Steps Identified During the Freight Partnership II Meeting
Next Steps	Who is Responsible?
Continue to work on identifying additional strategies, tactics, and activities for the Freight Policy Framework.	All freight stakeholders
Continue to flesh out strategies, tactics, and activities that were started at meeting.	All meeting participants
Commit to implementing identified activities.	All meeting participants
Input Freight Policy Framework information gathered during meeting into online database.	FHWA (Office of Freight Management and Operations)
Hold regional web conferences/roundtables for states/regions to do further work on identifying strategies, tactics, and activities.	FHWA
Hold follow up outreach for the State DOTs and MPOs who did not get an opportunity for input into the strategies, tactics, and activities.	FHWA/AASHTO
Address freight professional development needs that were identified during the meeting	FHWA/AASHTO
Develop channels of communication that enable freight stakeholders across the country to share information about freight professional development opportunities (in addition to NHI training courses).	FHWA/AASHTO
Develop marketing materials to advertise freight professional development opportunities: Comprehensive course catalogue Brochures/Fact Sheets More comprehensive online information Quarterly emails through the Freight Planning LISTSERV	FHWA
Provide guidance for developing a freight plan.	FHWA

Meeting participants were encouraged to take what they had learned from this meeting and do something beneficial to freight with it once they returned to their offices.

Introduction

The American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) co-hosted the AASHTO-FHWA Freight Partnership II meeting on February 13–16, 2007 in Natchez, Mississippi. Meeting participants represented State Departments of Transportation (DOT), metropolitan planning organizations (MPO), FHWA division offices, FHWA Headquarters, and the private sector. This meeting was a follow-on to the Freight Partnership conference held in Columbus, Ohio in April 2005 and was held with the purpose of:

Developing an understanding of the institutional and organizational changes needed to establish permanent freight capacity within organizations.
Identifying successes in building freight champions.
Developing an understanding of modal and private sector issues.
Identifying successes in moving from planning to project implementation.
Developing strategies and tactics to pursue the National Freight Policy.
Identifying Freight Professional Development topical needs and preferred delivery mechanisms.

Background

In April 2005, AASHTO and FHWA jointly sponsored the first Freight Partnership Conference. The goal of this conference was to define a position description framework for a State-Level Freight Coordinator(s) through the identification of the roles and responsibilities of a State-Level Freight Transportation Coordinator, the skill sets required for the Freight Transportation Coordinator position, and the organizational and institutional issues that need to be addressed to better advance freight transportation projects more effectively. To set the stage for this conference, AASHTO conducted a survey of freight professionals in State DOTs to learn about their perspectives on freight transportation priorities and needs. Similarly, FHWA conducted a survey of FHWA Division Office professionals focused on freight transportation. At the conclusion of the conference, participants identified next steps for moving forward to implement the freight coordinator position and resolve the issues that were heard from both the survey and the conference. Participants determined that the development of a national freight policy would be key to making improvements to freight transportation. The thought was that freight does not move in a vacuum and therefore, addressing freight needs requires addressing issues on a national basis as well as at the regional, state and local level.

In response to the Freight Partnership Conference and other outreach activities the US DOT developed a draft framework for a national freight policy. This framework lays out a vision and objectives, then details strategies and tactics that the USDOT and its partners, both public and private sector, can pursue to achieve those objectives. However, to be credible and achievable, the framework requires input and buy-in from the broader freight sector, including both public and private sector interests. While the USDOT developed the draft framework for the policy, the goal is for public and private sector stakeholders to add strategies and tactics and take ownership of action items for implementing these strategies and tactics.

Key Survey Findings

In January 2007, FHWA, AASHTO, AMPO, and NARC participated in a freight survey. This survey was disseminated to FHWA Division Offices by FHWA, State DOTs by AASHTO, and MPOs and Regional Councils by AMPO and NARC. The survey was developed in order to:

Provide transportation stakeholders with a better understanding of what organizations are doing in freight transportation planning and implementation.
Set a baseline to develop performance measures.
Gather information to share best practices.
Develop a list of Freight Advisory Councils.
Compare State DOT and FHWA responses to a similar survey held in 2005.

Figure 1 shows the response percentage for each stakeholder group.

Figure 1 – Percentage of Survey Responses

Although the chart indicates that 100 percent of FHWA Division Offices responded, this number is likely not accurate, due to the fact that in some instances there were duplicate responses from a Division Office. Because the survey was anonymous there were limitations in being able to determine which offices may have responded more than once. However a careful review of the responses from each survey enabled us to estimate that the error is not greater then 5 additional surveys due to a duplication. Therefore the FHWA response rate is likely closer to 90 percent. All responses have been taken into account.

Survey Organization

The survey was divided into five sections that were common to all stakeholder respondent groups:

Freight Priorities
Freight Professional Capacity
Freight Advisory Councils
Multi-Jurisdictional Freight Coalitions
Moving Ahead-Staying Ahead

There were four additional sections that the State DOTs and MPOs responded to:

Freight Plans
Freight Policy Framework
Fostering Institutional/Operational Change
From Planning to Project Implementation

What Did We Learn

Appendix A provides the survey questions and a report summarizing the survey results. In general, States, FHWA Division Offices, and MPOs/Regional Councils are making great strides in bringing freight to the forefront. The survey results indicate that most respondents view freight as a priority and are either in progress or planning to take on efforts to help improve freight movement for the future. When possible, data was compared to data from the 2005 survey and the numbers show that more organizations are now focused on freight and organizational leadership is increasingly dedicated to advancing freight transportation. The survey also indicated that States, FHWA, and MPOs/Regional Councils share the same concerns about freight, namely congestion and funding, and are increasingly focusing on rail improvement initiatives.

The survey indicated that there is still a need for more freight training and technical assistance, with the level of training and technical assistance varying among the different respondent groups. A common theme throughout the survey responses was the need for more information sharing and outreach in terms of training and technical assistance offerings. In addition, it is obvious that FHWA, States, and regions are not always aware of freight related activities at a national level, such as the Draft Framework for a National Freight Policy, or in their area, such as advisory groups and multi-jurisdictional coalitions. As discussed in the next section, this was also heard at the Freight Partnership II meeting.

The survey helped to bring to light the many existing freight advisory groups and multi-jurisdictional coalitions, as well as freight plans that either exist or are in development. This knowledge will be used to provide best practice information to States and regions that are looking to develop advisory groups and coalitions, as well as freight plans. The need for assistance with the development of freight plans was heard on more than one occasion during the Freight Partnership II meeting.

At the conclusion of the survey, respondents were asked what FHWA, AASHTO, AMPO, and NARC can do to further support freight staff and activities. Responses were unanimous that training, technical assistance, education, and outreach is strongly needed from all involved organizations. Other common responses included assistance with data collection and analysis and more funding opportunities. These topics were all discussed at the Freight Partnership II meeting and will continue to be explored by FHWA, AASHTO, AMPO, and NARC.

Key Conference Findings and Outcomes

Panel Discussions

Throughout the three-day meeting, participants had the opportunity to listen to several panel discussions. These panel discussions included public and private sector representatives who discussed the future of freight transportation and what they think needs to happen to keep freight moving.

The panel discussions highlighted the following key areas of need:

Developing a multimodal infrastructure
- In order for the U.S. economy to keep moving ahead and be competitive in a global environment, the transportation system needs an infrastructure that supports domestic and global trade.
- We need to learn to better utilize other forms of transportation besides trucking.
Planning for multi-jurisdictional freight movements – freight is multi-jurisdictional by nature. In order to ensure an efficient freight system we need mechanisms that allow us to plan across geographic boundaries.
Developing freight champions
- Freight champions can come from all levels, there is not a cookie cutter model.
- Having a champion and establishing institutional capacity provides a place for partners to connect.
- A freight champion has passion, is knowledgeable and prepared, is persistent and patient, is visible and indispensable, and seizes opportunities when they come.
Developing and nurturing partnerships
- Public-private partnerships can work when there are benefits for both sectors.
- Sharing and partnering is vital to resolving the freight transportation challenge.
Providing training and professional development
- Training and professional development are necessary in order to build a strong workforce dedicated to advancing freight transportation.

The panel discussions' point about the need to develop a multimodal infrastructure echoed what was heard through the survey. When asked to identify high priority freight issues, many of the top issues related to multimodal freight movement. Table 2 shows these high priority freight issues identified in the survey.

Table 2 – High Priority Freight Issues (Identified in the Survey) Related to Multimodal Freight Movement
High Priority Freight Issues	Identified By (State DOT, FHWA, MPO/Regional Council)
Intermodal Connections/Planning/Facilities	State DOT, FHWA, MPO/Regional Council
Expanding, Upgrading, Adapting Highway Infrastructure	State DOT, MPO/Regional Council
Diverting traffic to rail	State DOT, FHWA
Global Developments—NAFTA, Asia, Europe	State DOT

The survey responses also indicate that organizations are making efforts in addressing the other topics discussed during the panel discussions. This is shown in Table 3.

Table 3 – How Organizations are Addressing What Was Heard During the Panel Discussions
Survey Response	Panel Discussion Topic Addressed
Corridor Development/Enhancements are a high priority freight initiative.	Planning for multi-jurisdictional freight movements
Rail and port projects, as well as the development of intermodal facilities are a high priority freight initiative.	Developing a multimodal infrastructure
The majority of respondents indicated they have a moderate to very high level of capacity to understand and address freight transportation needs at a regional/state level.	Providing training and professional development
Survey respondents acknowledged that there is a need for more training on engaging the private sector.	Developing and nurturing partnerships
The majority of respondents indicated they have someone in a leadership position that actively advances freight priorities.	Developing freight champions

Table 4 shows the topic, presenters, and key points for each panel discussion. Notes from the panel discussions, as well as the questions and answers from these discussions, can be found in Appendix B. The PowerPoint presentations given during these panel discussions can be found on http://freight.transportation.org/freight_forums.html.

Table 4 – Panel Discussions
Discussion Topic	Presenters	Key Points
The Freight Transportation Challenge – The View from Mississippi	Senator Trent Lott	Making plans for moving freight is critical to this country. It is important that we come together in every possible venue to talk about how we're going to do a better job in the freight arena. The focus this year on is freight rail capacity. We need more capacity for short line rail roads but now our Class 1 rail roads need this too. The Freight Rail Infrastructure Capacity bill will provide a tax credit for anyone making qualified investments into new and expanded freight rail capacity. This bill has not yet been introduced, it is still being improved. The other area of focus for this year is the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization. We really need to be innovative, America will continue to make progress in transportation, but if we're going to remain competitive in the world market, we're going to have to come up with ways to fund what's needed, will need to make tough decisions on how we'll use technology, deal with personnel problems. Input and feedback is invited.
The Freight Transportation Challenge – The Federal Perspective	Jeff Paniati, FHWA Tony Furst, FHWA	In the 2005 Columbus meeting we heard about the need for a national freight policy. We think we have this now and need your input as we move forward and also need your support and leadership. We heard about the need for more freight education. Through FHWA's Freight Professional Development program we've tried to create courses and establish a community of practice both electronically and through the freight peer to peer. We heard about the need to provide freight data in an open environment. We've created the second version of the freight analysis framework in an open way to make data accessible. We heard about the need to establish ways of working together on regional projects. The DOT through its congestion initiative has initiated the corridors of the future program – an opportunity for states and jurisdictions to work together to identify capacity needs on existing corridors. We have collectively moved forward in getting people to recognize the problem, but we need to move from the point where we're "celebrating" the problem to the point where we can work together on solutions.
Private Sector Perspectives	Tracy Rosser, Wal-Mart Paula Dowell, Wilbur Smith Joe Bryan, Global Insight	There is nothing more valuable that public sector planners can do than learn and understand how what you do impacts the competitiveness and productivity of private industry. There are a number of freight issues the private sector faces: Growth People/Drivers Port efficiency Rail efficiency/reliability Truck Capacity Congestion Security Legislative Changes Globalization/Changing Network Fuel/Environmental Concerns Reliability and consistency in the supply chain is important. Using nights and weekends for deliveries alleviates some congestion issues. Private sector industries have to take the transportation system as a given into their overall production process. They can maximize profits by minimizing costs. The transportation system is a very important component of costs. They develop strategies for overcoming inefficiencies in a network over which they have very little control. Getting to be a facilitator of making these operational improvements takes getting to know the private sector. We need to begin to educate everyone around the nation how there is a vital connection between having a truck terminal and the public having jobs. We need to focus on flowing freight efficiently – need to work with aging highway and rail infrastructure, limited resources, globalization, security. Need a transportation policy that has a positive impact on these areas. We made a major leap 50 years ago with the highway system, what will be the next major leap to support the infrastructure that's rapidly aging today?
Modal Perspectives	Clifford Eby, FRA Frank Hardesty, AAR John Horsley, AASHTO Kurt Nagle, AAPA	Financing – from the rail side the railroads are now starting to look at public involvement in financing. From a highway perspective, we are embracing private investment. From the port side, they are trying to balance both of these areas. Short line and regional railroads have taken on a much larger role. Railroads are working hard to resolve capacity issues. Have hired thousands of new employees, working to revamp operating plans and employing new technology to make the best use of existing assets, and also buying new railroad cars. In the last few years the rail industry has been more accepting of working with public investment to provide the capacity we need. Public-private partnerships can help with rail projects, such as the Heartland Corridor in the East. These projects can bring a combination of public and private benefits. These can work when you have benefits both for public and railroads and each party should be expected to pay for the benefits that it receives. We have to look beyond the Highway Trust Fund, such as exploring the feasibility of tapping Customs fees to support port access and adding container fees. We are not maintaining the port system to handle today's needs. There isn't adequate funding at the federal level to allow the Corps of Engineers to improve and modernize the channels into our ports. A major problem for ports is the intermodal connection between the port facility and the interstate highway system. Ports are looking at other options, such as short sea shipping. We need the involvement of all modes. It's not a matter of taking away from one mode, it's more a matter of all modes working together. The Freight Stakeholders Coalition was started to develop common initiatives we can support and address to help us move toward being able to accommodate trade growth. Sharing and partnering is vital to resolving the freight transportation challenge.
Day 1 Lunch	Haley Barbour, Mississippi Governor Gordon Trafton, Canadian National Railroad Billy Hewes, Mississippi State Senator (Chairman of Transportation Committee) Bill Miles, Mississippi Representative (Chairman of Transportation Committee)	Transportation is important to economic development. To grow our economy we need to have a strong working relationship with the DOT. We need to learn to better utilize other forms of transportation besides trucking. We need to put containers on rail, on the river, on the Inter coastal waterway. There is a lot of freight out there today to move no matter what mode you are talking about. There is a need to continue to grow those transportation networks to ensure reliable service to customers. The threat of economic regulation is a challenge to rail. Railroads are running a business to be as efficient as possible, but when we talk about re-regulation we're talking about going back to a model that didn't work years ago and would be less cost effective and less desirable in terms of service. If allow the highways to deteriorate, rivers and ports to silt in, and other facilities to dilapidate, even if we had all the money in the world we'd still be bankrupt.
Where do Freight Champions Come From?	Ray Balentine, Mississippi DOT Patrick Dennis, Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments Richard Nordahl, California DOT Butch Brown, Mississippi DOT	Champions come at any level, there is not a cookie cutter model. The region itself can be a champion. Even without a figurehead/leadership, all of the stakeholders within the region can benefit by improving the infrastructure and the connectivity between modes. By doing so, they'll improve economic benefit within the region. A freight champion has passion, is knowledgeable and prepared, is persistent and patient, is visible, and seizes opportunities when they arise. Relationship building is important, the more people you know the better. A vision for your job and your program of work is essential. Champions need to empower their employees and provide training opportunities whenever possible.
Establishing Permanent Capacity	Barbara Ivanov, Washington State DOT Dave Ganovski, Maryland DOT Cecil Selness, Minnesota DOT Ted Dahlburg, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission	Establishing a freight office can help an organization look at the complete spectrum of freight movements. Staff turnover in a freight office can be a good thing. When people leave the freight office for other jobs they are taking their understanding of freight with them. In an organization, employees should be encouraged to spend some time in the freight office. It all comes down to whether or not you have people in positions of authority who understand and believe in what you're doing.
From Planning to Project Implementation Leading to Results	Byron Flood, Mississippi DOT Prabhat Diksit, FHWA	MDOT uses the HELP program – the City or County issues debt for MDOT projects and MDOT pays the debt service. Commission uses H.E.L.P. on Federal Interstate projects which leverages federal funds in two ways: FHWA reimburses MDOT for at least 80% of debt service and After completion of Interstate projects, federal funds can be used for maintenance (90% of MDOT maintenance costs on interstates are reimbursed by FHWA). Freight Financing Guidebook lists examples of what has been done around the country and how projects have been funded. It provides examples of different freight financing mechanisms.

Framework for a National Freight Policy Workshop

Tony Furst, Director of the FHWA Office of Freight Management and Operations introduced the Framework for a National Freight Policy as something designed to be a collaborative effort of all of the players that are a part of freight movement, including academia, the private sector, and state and local governments. It is designed to be a living document that will grow over time. Working together as partners is key to accomplishing the objectives of the National Freight Policy.

With this in mind, the Framework for a National Freight Policy workshop was designed to give meeting participants the opportunity to work together with their regional counterparts to add new strategies, tactics, and activities and modify or enhance existing elements of the framework. The caveat was that the participants had to be willing to take ownership of any added strategy, tactic, or activity.

In addition, the workshop served to educate participants about the National Freight Policy. The survey responses indicated that many State DOT and MPO/Regional Council respondents were not aware of the framework and those that were aware of it did not seem to be sure as to what role they played in implementing the policy's objectives. Building awareness of the National Freight Policy and encouraging freight stakeholders to take ownership of the policy is key to achieving the policy's objectives.

During this workshop, participants collectively identified:

2 new objectives.
1 modification to an existing objective. Suggested separating safety and security (objective 6) into 2 objectives.
19 new strategies.
29 new tactics.
10 revised tactics.
55 new activities.

These strategies, tactics, and activities will now be inputted into an online database that will soon be available through the FHWA Office of Freight Management and Operations web site. This database will enable people to view the full Policy Framework and will track the status of the action items.

Appendix C contains the full list of strategies, tactics, and activities that were identified and developed during the workshop. Appendix F contains blank templates that can be used to develop additional strategies, tactics, and activities.

The majority of activities identified fall under six tactics, shown in Table 5. Three of these tactics match up with the priority issues identified in the survey, indicating that participants are working to resolve the issues that they identified.

Table 5 – High Priority Tactics
Tactic	Number of Activities	Identified as Priority Issue in Survey?
6.4.1 (NEW) – Establish a program for long-term truck parking facilities along the NHS.	8	Yes
7.2.5 (NEW) – Develop a marketing and education campaign targeting community leaders	5
1.1.1 – Focus on bottlenecks.	4	Yes
2.1.1 – Focus DOT attention on facilitating SAFETEA-LU designated "Projects of National or Regional Significance" likely to generate the greatest economic returns.	4
4.1.2 – Review public sector statutes, regulations, institutional arrangements and human capital for opportunities to improve freight operations.	4	Yes
5.1.4 – Improve analytical tools (e.g. Freight Analysis Framework, Freight Model Improvement Program).	4

The discussions heard during this workshop highlighted three particular items that warrant more discussion:

Marketing of the Policy.
Addressing funding in the Policy.
Continuing to add to and enhance the Policy.

Participants noted that more time needs to be spent educating States, FHWA, and MPOs about the National Freight Policy. Some suggested adding a new tactic – Promote the National Freight Policy. However, this is not only FHWA and AASHTO's responsibility. The meeting participants, as well as others who are aware of the Policy, should spend time educating their regional partners and counterparts about the Policy and encourage them to take ownership of the policy. Many participants noted that getting buy-in from their upper management is an obstacle to implementing the activities they identified during the meeting. However, more education about the Policy and FHWA's intention in development the policy may help to mitigate this obstacle.

It was also heard that the objectives of the Policy neglect to mention funding. During John Horsley's panel discussion presentation, he mentioned that this is a great concern about the Policy. State DOTs worry about the cost of doing business and need to know how they will pay for infrastructure improvements needed to keep freight moving. Tony Furst responded to this by stating that funding is responsibility of Congress. The USDOT can only provide technical support and views on how funding should be allocated and will do this as needed.

Participants expressed a desire to continue the work they started during the workshop. FHWA is currently working on sponsoring regional web conferences or roundtables to help States and regions continue to identify strategies, tactics, and activities. It is envisioned that these would be facilitated sessions in which a region can work together to develop various components of the policy.

Freight Professional Development Workshop

Training Needs

The second workshop focused on identifying freight professional development needs. Participants were asked to identify priority training topic areas and then determine what needs to be covered for each of these topics in order to develop useful courses. Within the survey, respondents were also asked to identify their top training needs. The survey responses match closely with what was heard in the workshop. Table 6 shows the top freight professional development needs identified in the workshop compared to what was identified in the survey. The common topics are bolded.

Table 6 – Top Training Needs Identified in the Workshop and the Survey
Workshop	Survey
Engaging with Freight Stakeholders…and Keeping Them Engaged Freight 101: General Education on Freight General Freight Planning Freight Forecasting Freight Data and Performance Measures Financing Freight Projects	Engaging the Private Sector Financing Freight Projects General Freight Planning Freight Forecasting Freight Data and Performance Measures Freight Logistics (including Intermodal and Supply Chain)

While Freight Logistics was identified during the workshop, it did not rank as high in priority as the other topics. Within the survey, Freight Forecasting and Freight Data were identified as priority topics primarily by the MPO/Regional Council respondents. It is likely that these topics did not emerge during the workshop due to the fact that there were very few MPO/Regional Council participants.

The idea of a Freight 101 course was not identified in the survey, but was discussed in almost all of the workshop groups. The thought behind this topic is that there are a lot of states/divisions that do not have a specific freight person and it is hard for these states to sell freight planning to management without having background knowledge about freight movement. In addition, there are a lot of people new to the freight arena that need an introductory freight education and tools to help them do their jobs. This would be a basic course that describes why freight is important and covers freight topics from a high level. Following this course, people can take more in depth courses on the various freight topics (planning, financing, data, etc.).

Delivery Mechanisms

Participants also identified their preferred training delivery mechanisms. The discussions heard during this workshop fully validated the results of the survey in terms of preferred formats for training. The following were identified as the preferred training mechanisms, listed in priority order as defined in the survey responses:

In-person workshops
Peer exchanges
Web-based training
Computer-based training
Primers, brochures, presentations
Best Practices

Participants also stated that a combination of these formats is preferred, in terms of having one topic offered through a variety of formats.

The delivery mechanism discussion also brought about some new, innovative ideas for training, such as:

Regional multi-modal "field trips".
Two to three month executive exchange to expose leaders to other organizations and bring learning back to the home organization.
Short executive-level freight movie.
Video for general audiences.
Sharing across state boundaries – take something working in one state, such as a freight plan, and make it generic for other states.

Discussion Items

In addition to identify training topics and delivery mechanisms, participants also discussed freight professional development in general and agreed on the following thoughts:

More marketing/outreach is needed on Freight Professional Development opportunities that exist. There are numerous courses in each of the top training areas at the National, Federal, State and local levels but participants noted it is hard to find out about these opportunities. Participants suggested the development of a comprehensive course catalog that lists all known available freight training opportunities; sending quarterly emails through the Freight Planning LISTSERV to announce training opportunities; and sharing more information over the web. In order for this to work, there needs to be one central organization that will collect this information and disseminate it.
Start freight professional development early: Start it at the Grade School level to develop full awareness of freight at the earliest levels. Educate early about where our clothes and video games come from, how they come to us, etc. to develop early appreciation for "freight" as a concept and the role of freight in our lives and the economy
Offer "Freight 101"/Introductory level Freight Course to all State DOT and MPO staff involved in freight. Many participants spoke of coming into their jobs at the State DOT and knowing very little about freight until they were assigned a freight project. They noted they would have benefited greatly had they been able to have an Introductory class that introduced them to freight. This is different from integrating freight into planning in that this would cover the full realm of Freight, planning being one aspect.
Consider requiring Freight training as a requirement for advancement. This comment was made in the context of requiring ALL DOT personnel to have this course. This suggests some kind of training standard, could be voluntarily implemented by States or local agencies but is something to consider.
Conduct regional freight scans to complement national and international scans. Use the results to update Regional, State and local freight perspectives/impacts described in training
We need tools to help us educate others about freight. Participants in multiple groups emphasized the importance of painting the "why freight matters" picture at the regional, state and local levels. Freight scans could be a way to consistently gather and update this kind of information and also contribute to national-level analysis.

Conclusion and Next Steps

At the conclusion of the meeting, Leo Penne stated that "we are coming to the conclusion of this meeting, but we are not coming to the conclusion of the AASHTO-FHWA freight partnership. This is meant to be an ongoing relationship between FHWA and AASHTO to work on improving freight transportation." Tony Furst echoed this sentiment and also added that the work on the Framework for a National Freight Policy and Freight Professional Development is ongoing as well. Both Mr. Penne and Mr. Furst encouraged participants to continue to build partnerships between the public and private sectors, as freight improvement is dependent on these partnerships. Furthermore, participants were encouraged to take what they had learned from this meeting and do something beneficial to freight with it once they returned to their offices.

Next Steps

Although both the survey and the discussion at the meeting indicate that the number of organizations with a freight office/section is increasing, and there is now a higher number of people who feel that they have a moderate to high capacity to understand and address freight transportation needs, it is important that organizations continue to focus on these areas in order to continue to advance freight movement. The next steps identified during the meeting, as shown in Table 7, are meant to help States, FHWA, and MPOs/Regional Councils maintain the momentum for improving freight transportation.

Table 7 – Next Steps Identified During the Freight Partnership II Meeting
Next Steps	Who is Responsible?
Continue to work on identifying additional strategies, tactics, and activities for the Freight Policy Framework.	All freight stakeholders
Continue to flesh out strategies, tactics, and activities that were started at meeting.	All meeting participants
Commit to implementing identified activities.	All meeting participants
Input Freight Policy Framework information gathered during meeting into online database.	FHWA (Office of Freight Management and Operations)
Hold regional web conferences/roundtables for states/regions to do further work on identifying strategies, tactics, and activities.	FHWA
Hold follow up outreach for the State DOTs and MPOs who did not get an opportunity for input into the strategies, tactics, and activities.	FHWA/AASHTO
Address freight professional development needs that were identified during the meeting	FHWA/AASHTO
Develop channels of communication that enable freight stakeholders across the country to share information about freight professional development opportunities (in addition to NHI training courses).	FHWA/AASHTO
Develop marketing materials to advertise freight professional development opportunities: Comprehensive course catalogue Brochures/Fact Sheets More comprehensive online information Quarterly emails through the Freight Planning LISTSERV	FHWA
Provide guidance for developing a freight plan.	FHWA

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