We have made substantial progress since the LSSA Data Co-op Committee meeting at Titletown Green Bay on January 21, 2020. There have been significant developments outlined in our Comprehensive Update – Spring 2020.

This update outlines a series of Projects during 2020, expanding on the LSSA/MITech Data Co-op Project (final report posted 4/3/2020), our overall objective remains to convert over-the-road truckload freight to rail and rail intermodal to fill currently underutilized rail capacity and identify new investments in rail and rail-related infrastructure to accommodate additional truckload conversions beyond existing rail capacity. More specifically, the multiple projects are outlined and discussed in the Update, as their goal, will:

• On the demand side, assemble and deploy Actionable Shipper Data, freight all kinds, rail, truckload and intermodal of sufficient magnitude/volumes, at the freight lane level, to support railroad operations, rate and investment decisions that will result in substantial conversions from over-the-road truckload to rail and rail intermodal; and
• On the supply side, assemble from the railroad participants, railroad operations and service metrics to support feasible conversions of over-the-road truckloads to currently underutilized  rail capacity and as the foundation for application for federal grant funds for selected, identified rail and rail related infrastructure investments.

The proposed deadline for completion of the Projects is year end 2020 with the objective of supporting applications for shares of the over $1 billion plus of USDOT infrastructure competitive grant funds. It is likely that the total available funding may be increased in the coming months.