Freight and Goods Movement Industry Leaders Assemble to Champion ?Every Day is Freight Day?

In advance of the President’s FY 2014 budget release tomorrow, the Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors (CAGTC) kicks off its 2013 annual meeting, themed “Every Day is Freight Day” with record- breaking attendance. Freight interests and CAGTC members from across the United States have assembled in the nation’s capital to champion the economic importance of infrastructure projects to our national supply and call for increased federal investment.

“The record-breaking number of attendees from industry stakeholders and among our Coalition members underscores the message to both Congress and the Administration that a growing economy demands federal leadership and commitment to building the infrastructure that will keep our American businesses successful in the world marketplace,” stated Mortimer Downey, CAGTC Chairman & former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation.

U.S. DOT Under Secretary of Policy Polly Trottenberg, one of the Obama Administration’s top transportation policy officials, is scheduled to address the attendees on Tuesday’s public meeting, sharing U.S. DOT’s progress implementing the new transportation law “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century” (MAP-21). Others offering keynote remarks included Highways & Transit Subcommittee Chairman Representative Tom Petri (R-WI) and Congresswoman Donna Edwards (D-MD), both members of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.

Other meeting highlights include a media panel entitled “Moving the Needle on Freight” and a Congressional panel featuring key members of the Senate and House transportation committees sharing their thoughts on the “next steps” in freight policy. The day concluded with a briefing at the White House for CAGTC members only by key U.S. DOT modal agencies and White House domestic policy advisors.

A commitment to investment in goods movement and dedicated funding for a freight program is critical for America to ensure a safe, efficient, reliable, multimodal supply chain that will continue to stoke the engine of commerce and support jobs growth. CAGTC has long called for a comprehensive goods movement policy, with funding commensurate to our nation’s vast system needs.