Recognizing the value of improved freight tracking, the U.S. Department of Transportation launched the Electronic Freight Management (EFM) research initiative in 2006. This article summarizes the EFM initiative, which is addressing the challenge of tracking freight accurately and in real time. Specifically, the EFM system focuses on developing an open, Internet-based system for tracking freight as it moves across borders and from mode to mode, without the expense of engaging proprietary shipping services. The EFM system, now entering its third and final phase of evaluation and deployment, will be available in 2009 as a Web-based tool accessible to all businesses and shippers in the United States or abroad to configure their supply chains and connect with their supply chain partners. An end-to-end system for tracking shipping information, EFM mimics the efficiencies of proprietary, integrated systems for enhanced tracking and security connecting all supply chain partners in the information loop rather than parsing information out on an individual, piecemeal basis. The EFM system provides near real-time information sharing --tracking the movement of goods from the time of order to the manufacturer to the time of delivery. The EFM research has three main goals: (1) improving the efficiency and productivity of the freight logistics supply chain through the electronic exchange of shipping information from origin to destination, (2) improving data accuracy throughout the process, and (3) minimizing costs for shippers and supply chain partners. As companies implement the EFM system, the benefits will include driving down deployment costs, increasing participation, and enlarging the total flow of benefits. These types of technologies, if implemented with international standards, can play a major role in expanding the effective capacity of the Nation's transportation system, improving efficiencies and reliability, and enhancing shipment integrity.
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