COMPLETED RESEARCH
RESEARCH IN PROGRESS
REQUEST FOR FACULTY RESEARCH PROPOSALS

COMPLETED RESEARCH

CIFTS provided assistance to the U.S. Department of Transportation by preparing a report outlining the status of the U.S. freight transportation system.  The report was developed to serve as the introductory chapter of the National Intermodal Transportation System Improvement Plan (NITSIP).  The need for this plan was contained in the SAFETEA-LU legislation.

The report was co-authored by Jimmy Dobbins, Vanderbilt University, John Macgowan, Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute, and Martin Lipinski, University of Memphis. 

The report contains numerous charts, graphs, and illustrations detailing the status of all major modes of freight transportation including air, highway, rail, water, and pipeline showing major freight flows , terminals, and gateways. 

A copy of the report can be viewed here.

RESEARCH IN PROGRESS

The following research projects are currently underway, being conducted by a team of researchers at Vanderbilt University.

National Scan of Freight Capacity Issues

Scope

The research will consist of a strategic scan of capacity issues related to the freight infrastructure (facilities and services) at the national, regional, and state levels. The overarching objective of this effort will be to identify critical problems, opportunities and “lessons” learned that apply directly to the CIFTS region.  Special attention will also be given to intermodal issues. Performance of this task will involve developing the framework and format for the scan, including selection of literature to review, sites to visit, and transportation officials to interview. (Site visits will be coordinated with Task 2 and other CIFTS activities.)

A  report will be prepared describing the national scan findings and recommendations for CIFTS and CIFTS stakeholders.  The report will have free-standing value but will also support the CIFTS organizational, educational and technology transfer components. Scan results will be used to brief CIFTS working committees, included as part of CIFTS courses and training programs, and disseminated via the Center website.  Moreover, this effort will be structured to allow CIFTS faculty and staff to gain experience and to develop/expand the Center’s network of contacts.

Deliverables

The following deliverables are associated with performing this task:

• National scan framework and format
• Literature review
• Conduct of site visits and interviews with transportation officials
• Final report, including executive summary

National Scans of Freight Safety & Security Issues

Scope

The research will consist of a  strategic scan of safety and security issues related to the freight infrastructure (facilities and services) at the national, regional, and state levels. The overarching objective of this effort will be to identify critical problems, opportunities and “lessons” learned that apply directly to the CIFTS region.  Special attention will also be given to current and expected regulations and to emerging technologies.   Performance of this task will involve developing the framework and format for the scan, including selection of literature to review, sites to visit and transportation officials to interview. (The site visits be coordinated with Task 1 and other CIFTS activities.)

A report will be prepared describing national scan findings and recommendations for CIFTS and CIFTS stakeholders. The report will have free-standing value but will also support the CIFTS organizational, educational and technology transfer components. Scan results will be used to brief CIFTS working committees, included as part of CIFTS courses and training programs, and disseminated via the Center website.  Moreover, this effort will be structured to allow CIFTS faculty and staff to gain experience and to develop/expand the Center’s network of contacts.

Deliverables

The following deliverables are associated with performing this task:

• National scan framework and format
• Literature review
• Conduct of site visits and interviews with transportation officials
• Final report, including executive summary

Freight Analysis Network Development

Scope

The objective of this research is to develop the capability and tools within CIFTS to perform freight analysis and forecasting. It is anticipated that a primary thrust of CIFTS will be the ability to support freight planning studies in the economic region. This requires the capability to analyze existing operations for purposes of problem identification, as well as the ability to forecast future performance based on potential/proposed changes in freight infrastructure, operations, regulations, business development strategies, etc.  

The first step in creating this analysis capability will be development of an inventory of existing intermodal freight transportation operations within the CIFTS region. This inventory will include terminals and transfer facilities, the most recent freight commodity flows and identification of the institutional players involved in intermodal freight movements (shippers, carriers and regulators). The inventory will be compiled using a combination of site visits to terminals, national intermodal facility databases and aerial photographs for the creation of “reconnaissance” style reports.

Following the baseline creation, the Subcontractor will build a first generation GIS-based freight transportation network for the region. This network will be extracted from large scale (1:100K) national transportation networks. Appropriate connections will be made between the modal networks where terminals are located, using the results from the regional inventory. These connections will be designed so that delays and throughput capacities may be associated with the transfer facility and flow data is associated with network links throughout the region. This network will be populated with attributes that characterize the region with physical, operational, economic, environmental and demographic detail.

Future work (beyond the scope of this current task) with this network includes validation against actual freight activity within the region, development of analysis and reporting modules that allow for scenario development and “what if” analyses, combined with various means for displaying analysis results so as to be easy to understand by both freight managers, government officials and the public interest. 

The research will include performing site visits to large distribution centers and transfer facilities within the region, developing the network design specification, and populating the attributes associated with the network.  The Subcontractor will take the lead in construction of the GIS-based freight transportation network and assigning commodity flows to network links.

Deliverables

The following deliverables are associated with performing this task:       

• Conduct site visits and generate reports on transfer facilities and institutional players within the region
• Extraction of national modal datasets and networks
• First generation network design specification

• Construction of first generation GIS-based regional freight transportation network

Intermodal Freight Curriculum Development

Scope  

The research will consist of developing a curriculum in which graduate students interested in freight management, freight professionals, and stakeholders working with freight professionals can be exposed to the policies, concepts and methods utilized in managing intermodal transportation systems. 

This introductory course will be oriented around subjects that are timely and critical, such as:

• Fundamentals of transportation systems analysis
• Freight transportation systems
• Railroad operations
• Truck operations
• Maritime operations
• Inland waterway operations
• Airport operations
• Pipeline operations
• Intermodal terminals
• Special topics
• Hazardous materials transportation
• Defense logistics
• Freight transportation modeling

Each stage of course development and refinement will be a joint activity involving the Vanderbilt University  and the University of Memphis.  It will be initially offered as a graduate course at the both institutions (using distance-based learning technologies, as appropriate).

In a later phase (not covered by this task), it is anticipated that the course will debut as a professional, executive management offering.  It is also anticipated that the freight management fundamentals embedded in this curriculum will be assembled into a primer or handbook for widespread dissemination to interested parties.

Deliverables

The following deliverables are associated with performing this task:

• Literature review of existing courses & textbooks

• Draft course syllabus
• Review of potential educational delivery mechanisms
• Completed course modules
• Initial offering of introductory course to graduate students

REQUEST FOR FACULTY RESEARCH PROPOSALS

To support the center’s Research Selection Goal of  developing a comprehensive research program that focuses on solving high priority intermodal transportation problems,  a process has been implemented for faculty to submit proposals to conduct research studies.  The deadline for the first round of submissions for 2008 was in December, 2007.  Proposals submitted at that time are currently being reviewed by the research committee.  It is anticipated that projects that have been selected for funding will begin this summer. Requests for pre-proposals will be issued on a semi-annual basis in September and February of each year. The instructions for submitting pre-proposals can be found here.