OTTAWA — NAFTA governments must do a better job of improving the efficiency of truck and rail freight services and make improvements to supply chain infrastructure.

That’s the gist of a new report by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), a multimodal organization established in 1994 as part of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, a side agreement to NAFTA.

Entitled ‘Destination Sustainability: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Freight Transportation in North America’ the report calls for the NAFTA partners to form "a ministerial-level forum to foster an integrated, intelligent freight transportation system" and criticizes the condition of a "congested and deteriorating" North American freight transport infrastructure.

The report, which is backed by the American Trucking Associations (ATA), and prepared under the guidance of stakeholders from industry, academia, the environmental sector goes on to recommend a review of carbon pricing, intended to focus companies on efficiency and investment in low-carbon fuel alternatives.

The report also states that too many long haul trucks run empty and often make journeys better served by rail freight.

It recommends encouraging commercial vehicle drivers to adopt a more "eco friendly style" through training and calls for better exchange of information between NAFTA departments to better measure environmental impacts and manage freight transportation as a continent-wide system.

"Reducing the environmental impact of freight transportation in the face of increasing trade and economic growth in North America requires much more than continued progress on fuel economy and transport technology," said CEC executive director Evan Lloyd.

Without an integrated, intelligent freight transportation system "and the transformational investments that go with it," NAFTA countries will risk losing their competitive edge.

"These recommendations provide a blueprint for leaders in this country, as well as in Mexico and Canada, as they craft transportation policy," said ATA’s Environmental Counsel, Glen Kedzie.