The State of Illinois participates in the truck PrePass program, which allows transponder-equipped commercial vehicles to bypass weigh stations, port-of-entry facilities, and agricultural interdiction facilities. The PrePass program pre-screens commercial vehicle credentials and drivers’ safety records. Pre-screened commercial vehicles are then allowed to bypass facilities through the use of an automatic vehicle identification (AVI) system. The commercial vehicles credentials are regularly verified with state and federal agencies to ensure commercial vehicles abide the bypass criteria established by the member states and adhere to safety standards.

The PrePass program offers participants, both commercial vehicle drivers and member states, many benefits. Commercial vehicles bypassing facilities save drivers’ time, fuel, and operating costs. It also reduces congestion around facilities and allows law enforcement officials to focus on noncompliant commercial vehicles. The PrePass program also has the potential to make areas around facilities safer for drivers through fewer vehicle weaving movements and merging points. Commercial carriers that participate in the program pay system deployment and maintenance costs through monthly fees. The program is provided at no cost to the state and without a long-term commitment.

The State of Illinois currently operates six weigh and motion (WIM) stations in the CMAP region. The WIM stations are located in the southern part of the region on I-55, I-80, and I-57. It is estimated that the PrePass program has saved 516,250 driving hours, 2.4 million gallons of fuel, and reduced carbon monoxide emissions by 5,472 metric tons since the programs deployment.

On Wednesday, May 16, 2012, the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Office of Freight Management and Operations will host a “Talking Freight” webinar on the impacts of heavy or oversize truck shipments on the U.S. highway network from noon to 1:30 p.m. CT. The increased demand for heavy load trucks, which haul oversized or overweight loads and require special permits, have created significant impacts on the roads and communities they operate in. The webinar will provide examples of how states and communities are mitigating or have dealt with the increasing heavy truck volumes on the transportation system.

CMAP recently compiled a regional summary of intermodal lift freight data provided by railroads for calendar year 2010. A lift is the act of moving a container or trailer on or off a train. In 2010, the summary shows that the greater Chicago region (including Rochelle) handled about 6,730,000 lifts, up from about 6,145,000 in 2009. These intermodal containers and trailers are handled by the region’s 20 separate intermodal terminals for seven railroads.

CMAP also prepared a summary number to enable a comparison between Chicago and container ports around the world. Global port activity is measured by twenty-foot equivalent unit, or TEUs. CMAP estimated that the greater Chicago region handled 12.876 million TEUs in 2010. Comparing this number to information compiled by the Port of Rotterdam, this level of intermodal activity would rank Chicago as the world’s eighth busiest container port (after combining Los Angeles and Long Beach) if Chicago were a seaport.

Why is this important? While Chicago doesn’t handle the container volume of Shanghai, Singapore, or Hong Kong, the global TEU comparison numbers show that the Chicago region’s unparalleled national rail access facilitates a level of trade and commerce comparable to or greater than most other global cities. The rail access gives Chicago businesses good shipping opportunities across North America to ports on both coasts, thence to sea lanes serving the globe.

Source: CMAP photo
 

On November 16, the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Office of Freight Management and Operations and the Office of Planning will host a “Talking Freight” webinar on measuring freight performance from noon to 1:30 p.m. CT. This free webinar will focus on tools being developed to measure the performance of freight and freight related infrastructure on the transportation system.

A new report, released by the National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP), developed a set of measures to assess the performance of the U.S. freight transportation system in an easy-to-read freight system report card. The report examined performance measures that capture the efficiency, capacity, safety, security, infrastructure condition, congestion, energy, and environmental effects of the freight transportation system. The performance measures support investment, operations, and policy decisions involving freight transportation at the local, regional, national, and global levels.

A new rule proposed by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) would require all railroads to establish a toll-free number that would allow the public to report unsafe crossing conditions at highway-rail grade crossings. Currently, only the larger passenger and Class I freight railroads have some type of system in place to be notified of unsafe crossings. The proposed rule would also require all railroads to immediately inform train operators of the unsafe conditions in an effort to avoid an incident. The toll-free number and crossing identification number would be required to be posted at all crossings.

This talking freight webinar, hosted by the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Office of Freight Management and Operations and the Office of Planning will discuss the results of the Cross-Town Improvement Project (C-TIP), a collaborative project involving the government and private industry in Kansas City, MO. The main goal of C-TIP was to move freight more efficiently over the transportation network through better information sharing capabilities between government and private entities.

The webinar will take place on November 17, 2010, from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. CST.

Federal and state governments are increasingly looking toward performance measures to improve the functioning of the Transportation system and optimize their investment strategies. This webinar will examine how beneficial cargo owners and carriers are using performance measures, what are the applications for the public sector, and what measures the private side believes are important for the public sector. It will also discuss what the public sector looks to the private sector for with regard to performance measures. Presenters include Gordon Proctor, Gordon Proctor & Associates, Inc.; Bill Gardner, MN DOT; Jeff Short, American Transportation Research Institute

The free webinar will take place on Wednesday, August 18, 2010, from noon to 1:30 p.m. CDT.

The National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) recently released “NCFRP Report 3: Separation of Vehicles – CMV-Only Lanes.” The report examines major issues and concepts that should be understood in developing new applications of CMV-only lanes as a potential method for both easing congestion and reducing the number of traffic accidents on highways.

The Off Hour Delivery Pilot Program in New York City explored the impact of commercial trucks making deliveries during off-peak hours. Trucks and commercial vehicles both cause and suffer from congestion. Because of congestion, deliveries made during the business day affect us all. The receiver of the delivery passes the expense caused by wasted time, lost revenue, missed deliveries, and parking tickets on to the consumer.

Twenty participants agreed to shift their delivery window to between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. Receivers found that fewer deliveries during business hours allowed them to focus more on customers and their staff was more productive because they did not have to wait as long for deliveries stuck in traffic. Carriers found that they could save time and money by making off-hour deliveries. The drivers also reported feeling safer and less stressed.

The program was funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) and implemented by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a group of stakeholders and research partners. It was also featured in Secretary LaHood’s “Fast Lane” Blog.

Strategies to facilitate off-peak deliveries are also included in the GO TO 2040 section Create a More Efficient Freight Network.