Northwest passage permitting : phase 3.

PDFTech ReportCFIRE 06-0289264Freight trafficPermitsTruckingRegional transportationOversize loadsOverweight loadsInterstate compactsWest North Central StatesNational Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (U.S.)Wittwer, ErniePerry, ErnestNational Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (U.S.)Minnesota. Dept. of TransportationNTL-FREIGHT-Trucking IndustryNTL-HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION-HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATIONNTL-PLANNING AND POLICY-PLANNING AND POLICYNTL-LAWS AND REGULATIONS-State Laws and RegulationsUS Transportation CollectionThe efficient movement of freight is a key to the economic success of any state, region or nation. Rising transport costs will tend tomake products from the region more expensive and less competitive in the national and global markets. This trend can beaddressed by adding capacity, a very expensive and long-term solution; improving the management of the highway and railsystems; and by easing the regulatory burden on carriers. Some states have organized themselves into compacts or coalitions toissue permits for these routine loads on a regional basis. While permitting is one of the issues often raised by truckers as a costlyand frustrating process, a number of concerns over exactly how individual state rules can be harmonized to facilitate regionalpermitting must be resolved before multi-state agreements can be put into place. To better understand the nature of regionalpermitting processes, existing compact or agreements must be reviewed and their rules, processes and administrative proceduresdocumented. In addition, members of those compacts must be interviewed to measure their perceptions of the costs and benefitsentailed in regional agreements