Freight Forum

[ About The Freight Forum ] [ 2007 Activities ]
[ Freight Transportation Guidebook ] [ Report A Highway Safety Issue! ]

About The Freight Forum

Effective freight movement is a key component of the region’s economic competitiveness and the overall health and efficiency of our regional transportation system. SPC’s Freight Planning Program works with the freight community to coordinate strategies for the safe and efficient movement of goods to enhance the region’s economic vitality.

Partnerships among the different freight modes—air, rail, waterways and trucking—are crucial to the effective planning of freight transportation needs. To facilitate dialogue between the multiple modes, SPC hosts a Freight Forum where representatives of the various transportation modes are invited to present information on issues and opportunities relevant to their operations, to establish relationships with other freight interests in the region, and to learn about current and proposed SPC activities.

2007 Activities

In 2007, the Freight Forum provided an opportunity for SPC to solicit input from the freight community on issues related to the SPC Project Evaluation Process and the draft 2035 Transportation and Development Plan. SPC used the forum to educate the freight community about the Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality (CMAQ) funding program, and to solicit freight representation on the CMAQ Project Evaluation Committee.

SPC continues to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Port of Pittsburgh Commission in the evaluation of the long-term infrastructure needs of the inland navigation system. In 2007, SPC was invited to join the Inter-Agency Working Group for the Upper Ohio Navigation Study, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-sponsored infrastructure needs assessment of the locks and dams on the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania. A major component of that study is an assessment of the impact of lock closure, or catastrophic loss of pool, on the regional highway network in the event that goods traditionally moved by river barge must be re-routed along the region’s highways.

SPC was an active participant in the Technical Advisory Committee for the Pennsylvania State Transportation Advisory Committee’s Study of Truck Parking Issues in Pennsylvania, and has been working to implement study recommendations on a regional level. SPC also regularly attends meetings of the Allegheny County Airport Authority’s Air Cargo Task Force, and continues to serve on the Pennsylvania Rail Freight Advisory Committee.

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Freight Transportation Guidebook

Every year, SPC, in cooperation with the Port of Pittsburgh Commission, publishes the Southwestern Pennsylvania Freight Transportation Guidebook. The Fourth Edition of the Guidebook is now available for download in PDF format.

Download the Guidebook (3.27 M)

To download the order form, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. If you don't have Acrobat Reader, it's available as a free download from Adobe.

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Please use this form to report any safety hazards for freight on the roads of our ten-county Southwestern Pennsylvania region. Safety hazards include but are not limited to: gravelly or overly narrow roads and berms, no berm at all, obstruction in lanes, and excessive wear or potholes.

Remember: all required fields are marked with an asterisk (*)!

For more information about the Freight Forum, contact Sara Walfoort at (412) 391-5590 x339 or e-mail swalfoort@spcregion.org.

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