Date Prepared: August 2020
Future Outlook Statement
Committee Scope
The Committee aims at promoting and advancing state-of-the-art and practice in every element of the supply chains, including freight transportation planning and logistics and supply chain management. This also includes demand for transportation services, improving the ability of the physical and information infrastructure, facilitating the education of the next generation workforce to meet the future demand.
Factors Affecting Freight Transportation Planning and Logistics
The following opportunities will influence the Committee’s future activities (short-term and long-term):
- Disruptive Technologies and Services (AI, AV/CV, blockchain, automation, robotics, etc.)
- E-commerce (net effects on traffic and emissions)
- Supply and Demand Uncertainty (pandemics, disasters, special events, etc.)
- Electrification and Alternate Fuels
- Big Data and Management of Proprietary Data
- Energy, Sustainability, Resiliency, and Security of Supply Chains
- Equity, Funding, and Finance of Freight Infrastructure
- Role of Public Sector and Innovations in Public-Private Partnerships in Improving Logistics Sector
- Freight Routing and Network Design (location of charging stations or warehouses, logistics, etc.)
- Trucking regulation (fuel efficiency, competition, safety)
- Multimodal Freight Capacity Planning and Performance Analysis
- Arctic Shipping, Climate Change, Fracking— Role of Freight Planning and Safety Concerns
- Institutional and Workforce Capacity with Advent of Automation
- Research and Innovation in Freight Planning and Modeling
Committee Outlook and Goals
In the future (short-term and long-term), the Committee will adopt the following goals to advance applied research and promote implementable policies, plans, and actions. Each of these goals involves collaboration with other committees within or outside the Freight Systems Group and other external transportation planning organizations. The abbreviation of our goals is, D.E.A.L., as explained below:
Committee Yearly Plans
The Committee will continue the ongoing activities and responsibilities such as:
- Paper Review and Selection Process (This is a well-established process in the Committee)
- Organizing Annual Meeting Lectern and Poster Sessions
- TRB Workshops, TRB Webinars and Freight Day (in collaboration with other TRB committees)
In addition to these activities, the Committee has started new initiatives for the next three years.
Short Term Plan (2020-2023)
In the year 2020, with the change in leadership, the Committee started various initiatives (some may take years to develop, while others will require constant updating) as following:
- Triennial Strategic Plan (TSP): This is the first time committee is developing a TSP.
- Problem Statements: The Committee has appointed a Committee Research Coordinator, and he, along with state DOT members, is responsible for submitting problem statements.
- Member Engagement: The Committee has appointed Committee People Officer, who will engage members by leading various initiatives such as freight hour, member spotlight, etc.
- Website and Outreach Portal: The Committee is developing a new dynamic website, with a new logo and professional design www.freightplanning.org
- Freight Primer: The Committee has set up a task force to develop a freight primer that covers the theory and practice of freight transportation planning and logistics.
- Centennial Paper: The committee chair, along with previous chairs of the Committee are working on a Centennial Paper for TRB Centennial Celebrations.
- Editorial Board: New editorial board was set up, with a review coordinator and sub-editors.
- Young Member Council: The Committee has appointed a Young Member Council liaison to keep the young professionals engaged in the area of Freight Transportation Planning & Logistics.
- Webinars and Workshops: The Committee has appointed Committee Webinar Coordinator and Committee Workshop Coordinator to seek new webinars and workshops.
- Communication: The Committee has appointed a new Committee Communication Coordinator to disseminate information through emails and social networks (LinkedIn).
Figure 1. Action Items for Short-Term Plan
Figure 2. Performance Measures for Short-Term Plan
Long-Term Plan (2023-2027)
In the long-term plan, the Committee seeks continuous improvement by closely monitoring the effectiveness of its initiatives (started in the year 2020 and in the short-term plan), lessons learned and observed the capacity and commitment of the members. The Committee will also take a long-term view of the research landscape and revisit the TSP to address any challenges and use them as opportunities for the next cycle.
To find more, read our Triennial Strategic Plan.