This book examines the effects of government intervention on the operations of the freight transportation industry.

Although efforts to improve freight transportation efficiency and reliability have been successful, the U.S. transportation system is now facing challenges that, unless addressed, may jeopardize its reliability. Allowing transportation system reliability to erode would add additional pressure to U.S. companies operating in an increasingly competitive international market and place more burdens on communities seeking to sustain their economic base and quality of life. Improved logistics has thus far been able to address the corrosive effects of the loss of system reliability. Unfortunately, the ability of logistics to provide additional offsetting savings appears to be nearing its limit, as are the savings attributable to deregulation. Unless these challenges are addressed, more discretionary income will be devoted to moving materials and products, businesses will be constrained in their adoption of innovative strategies to maintain global competitiveness, quality of life-as measured by congestion-will suffer, and safety and security could be jeopardized.

Does the identification number 60 indicate a toxic substance or a flammable solid, in the molten state at an elevated temperature? Does the identification number 1035 indicate ethane or butane? What is the difference between natural gas transmission pipelines and natural gas distribution pipelines? If you came upon an overturned truck on the highway that was leaking, would you be able to identify if it was hazardous and know what steps to take? Questions like these and more are answered in the Emergency Response Guidebook. Learn how to identify symbols for and vehicles carrying toxic, flammable, explosive, radioactive, or otherwise harmful substances and how to respond once an incident involving those substances has been identified. Always be prepared in situations that are unfamiliar and dangerous and know how to rectify them. Keeping this guide around at all times will ensure that, if you were to come upon a transportation situation involving hazardous substances or dangerous goods, you will be able to help keep others and yourself out of danger. With color-coded pages for quick and easy reference, this is the official manual used by first responders in the United States and Canada for transportation incidents involving dangerous goods or hazardous materials.

According to new estimated by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the US Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration and the Federal Highway Administration, over 19 billion tons of freight, valued at $13 trillion, was carried over 4.4 trillion ton-miles in the US in 2002. This means that on a typical day in the US in 2002, about 53 million tons of goods valued at about $36 billion moved nearly 12 billion ton-miles on the national multimodal transportation network. The new estimates combine data from the Commodity Flow Survey - the most comprehensive nationwide source of freight data - and data from other sources to provide the most complete picture of freight movement in America yet available. This report discussed the resulting composite estimates, using 2002, the year of the latest CFS, as the baseline. It also discusses more recent data for specific modes, the geography of freight movements in the US, and the growing importance of international trade to the US freight transportation system.