The highly developed transportation system in the United States is a key factor in the nation’s economic competitiveness. Roads, railroads, the inland waterway system, seaports, and airports all contribute to connecting agricultural and natural resource areas, population and employment centers, and international gateways. Maintaining and improving an effective and efficient transportation infrastructure for the movement of people and freight continue to be important in today’s global marketplace, especially given projected population growth and increased domestic oil, gas, and agricultural production. Urban goods movement, international supply chains, and logistics are also key to the future economic competitiveness of the country. The Transportation Research Board (TRB) hosted a conference entitled The Role of Freight Transportation in Economic Competitiveness at the Keck Center of The National Academies in Washington, D.C., in December 2014. This meeting was the eighth in a series of Spotlight Conferences funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, University Transportation Centers (UTC) Program. The UTC Program awards grants to universities across the country to advance state-of-the-art transportation research, conduct technology transfer activities, and educate the next generation of transportation professionals. TRB assembled a planning committee, appointed by the National Research Council (NRC), to organize and develop the conference program. The planning committee was chaired by Denver Tolliver of North Dakota State University. Committee members provided expertise in freight supply chains, transportation system resiliency, and energy sector developments. The planning committee was responsible solely for organizing the conference, identifying speakers, reviewing submitted poster abstracts, and developing topics for the breakout group discussions. Katherine Turnbull of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute served as the conference rapporteur and prepared this document as a factual summary of what occurred at the conference. Responsibility for the published conference summary rests with the rapporteur and Texas A&M Transportation Institute. The conference attracted 84 participants. Agency personnel responsible for freight transportation, system resiliency, responding to disasters and extreme weather events, and addressing energy sector developments joined faculty, students, and researchers from UTCs and other universities to explore the role of freight in economic competitiveness. Representatives from industries and trade associations also participated in the conference. The conference, which was characterized by broad and active participation and discussion, considered potential research to help improve supply chain operations, enhance transportation system resiliency, and address energy sector transportation needs. The conference began with an overview of trends in global trade and a national perspective on transportation and economic competitiveness. Plenary sessions highlighted modal perspectives on freight supply chains and economic competitiveness, transportation system resiliency, energy sector developments and economic competitiveness, and global freight supply-chain issues. Conference participants also had the opportunity to interact with poster authors and to discuss issues and areas for further research in breakout groups. Speakers in the closing plenary session highlighted the key issues, opportunities, and research needs discussed in the breakout sessions. These proceedings consist of presentation summaries from the plenary sessions and the poster abstracts provided by the authors. The views expressed in this summary are those of the individual speakers and discussants, as attributed to them, and do not necessarily represent the consensus views of the conference participants, the conference planning committee members, TRB, or NRC. The conference PowerPoint presentations and the poster abstracts provided by the authors are available at http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/conferences/2014/UTCSpotlight/ Program.pdf. This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC Report Review Committee. The purposes of this independent review are to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making the published report as sound as possible and to ensure the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the project charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process. (Author/publisher)
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