North American Freight Transportation

Heightened awareness of North America's vulnerability to terrorism in the aftermath of 9/11 has precipitated a crisis for transport suppliers and cargo owners, one that jeopardizes economic prosperity. Mary Brooks examines one industry sector of the North American economic relationship - transportation services - from the perspectives of transport supplier, cargo owner and policymaker. Ensuring security in international transportation without compromising operational effectiveness is a delicate balancing act. There is concern that economic benefits from NAFTA and the Canada-US Trade Agreement may have been diminished by the current security focus of American officials. The author addresses these concerns, beginning with a history of NAFTA and subsequent continental economic integration. Succeeding chapters provide an economic and regulatory assessment of the North American transport network, and examine key issues for both cargo interests and surface transport suppliers. The issues of perimeter security and growing regionalization are also explored. The author closes with a discussion of North America's transportation future under the Security and Prosperity Partnership. The unique insights of North American Freight Transportation will be of interest to policymakers, those in the transport sector, as well as researchers and practitioners in political science and trade economics.

"This document synthesizes the discussions of a one-day workshop, "Increasing the Capacity of Freight Transport: Canadian and American Perspectives on the Challenges Ahead," that was held in Santa Monica, California, on February 16, 2006"--Pref.

The freight transportation industry used the nation's transportation system to carry $790 billion in mer- chandise, a record high, between the United States and its two largest trading partners, Canada and Mexico, in 2005. The goods, weighing nearly 679 million short tons1, were transported across our land borders, airports, and seaports to and from locations in Canada and Mexico. These and other annual data presented in this report highlight the value and weight of freight shipped across our northern and southern borders, as well as the number of incoming land border crossings by truck, truck containers, rail, and rail containers from Canada and Mexico.

North American transportation in figures provides a comprehensive set of comparable statistical indicators of the use, performance and impact of transportation in North America. It includes over 90 different data tables, supported by figures, maps and extensive technical documentation describing data categories and definitions relating to each country, that is, Canada, Mexico and the United States. The report covers a wide variety of transportation and the economy; safety; merchandise trade; freight activity; passenger travel; infrastructure; and transportation energy and environment. It includes data fro 1990, 1995 and 1996 with value data reported only in dollars and all measurement units in metric.

The editors as well as the authors of these essays should be commended for bringing together and discussing within this volume many of the important issues facing globalized freight movements. Robert Martin, The Professional Geographer . . . Leinbach and Capineri have produced an interesting and useful addition to the literature on this massive subject. . . Anthony Beresfore, International Journal of Maritime History Globalization is a fashionable issue. But solid research on the conditions and implications for freight transport is badly missing. This volume contains a unique set of high-quality contributions on freight transport in the age of globalization. It offers a wealth of original insights to both the research and policy-making community. Peter Nijkamp, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands The worldwide movement of freight has emerged as one of the most critical and dynamic aspects of the transport sector. The contributors to this study examine the current state of global freight transport, with an emphasis on Europe and North America and their extra-regional linkages. These original contributions synthesize existing knowledge, highlight new developments, problems and possible solutions, and underscore the need for further research. The book s starting point is the fact that freight transport is the main element supporting global supply and commodity chains, from the transformation of raw materials to market distribution and after-market services. However, as the authors point out, the rising costs associated with security and various other constraints, as well as the complexity of getting goods delivered, is adding to profit pressures faced by manufacturers around the globe. Despite the application of technology and increasingly efficient solutions to the movement of freight, constraint points and conditions obstructing smooth operations and sustainability have developed. These difficulties affect both the environment and economic growth. Examining the issues from four critical perspectives intermodality, e-commerce and technology, logistics, and sustainability Globalized Freight Transport captures the concern for the viability of freight systems and the ways they are impacting the global economy. This cutting-edge study will be of great interest to students and scholars of transportation, as well as to public sector policymakers and private sector managers.