A well-functioning freight transportation system is essential to national prosperity. Advances in freight transportation and logistics in recent decades have been a major source of productivity growth in the U.S. economy. Freight transportation is a joint enterprise of the private sector, government, and public enterprises; therefore it is important to review public-sector programs that serve freight to determine how well they are keeping up with rapid change in industry. The Transportation Research Board formed a Committee for a Study of Policy Options To Address Intermodal Freight Transportation to examine prospects for changes in programs to improve the efficiency of the freight system, and of intermodal freight in particular, in the light of recent experience. (Author/publisher)
Abstract