IWLA President Joel Anderson supports proposed freight bill

DES PLAINES, IL – International Warehouse Logistics Association president  Joel D. Anderson has come out in favor of a freight bill in the US proposing to create national freight transportation strategic plan to guide infrastructure investments.

The legislation titled “Focusing Resources, Economic Investment, and Guidance to Help Transportation Act of 2010 (FREIGHT Act),” has been introduced by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) with co-sponsors Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA).

If enacted, the bill would require the U.S. Department of Transportation to create a National Freight Transportation Strategic Plan that would guide infrastructure investments for the movement of freight. The legislation also would create a National Freight Infrastructure Grants program, which is intended to be a competitive, merit-based program with broad eligibility for multimodal freight investment designed to focus funds where they will provide the most public benefit.

 “Over the years research has proven without any doubt that our nation’s supply chain efficiency is key to our global competitiveness. Although it has been the envy of the world, we need a freight policy and the smart targeting of funding to eliminate congestion choke points in an infrastructure system that is rapidly aging and adding costs to the movement of freight every day,” Anderson said.

“If properly designed and implemented, such a program will not only help us preserve our competitive position in the world marketplace, but it will stimulate jobs in logistics, which is one of the few sectors of the American economy that has seen job growth and can prove a substantial jobs-multiplier effect that results from increasing supply chain efficiencies,” Anderson added.