Improving Freight Crash Incident Management

2015PDFTech ReportFHWA/LA 14/542LTRC Project Number: 13-5SSState Project Number: 30000763Incident managementFreight trafficIncidentManagementFreightResearch HubUnited StatesMississippi State University. National Center for Intermodal Transportation for Economic CompetitivenessWilmot, Chester G.Glascock, StephenGraham, GlenLouisiana Transportation Research CenterLouisiana State University. Dept. of Civil and Environmental EngineeringLouisiana. Dept. of Transportation and DevelopmentMississippi State University. National Center for Intermodal Transportation for Economic CompetitivenessUnited States. Federal Highway AdministrationNTL-OPERATIONS AND TRAFFIC CONTROLS-Traffic FlowUS Transportation CollectionThe objective of this study was to determine the most effective way to mitigate the effect of freight crash incidents on Louisiana freeways. Candidate incident management strategies were reviewed from practice in Tech Report states and from those published in the literature. Current legislation in the state was also reviewed. A procedure to estimate the cost of delay caused by an incident was developed and used to provide a rough estimate of the cost efficiency of an Instant Tow Dispatch Program and an Expedited Towing Program. Both were estimated to be highly cost-efficient with the estimated cost of delay far exceeding the estimated cost of the programs. Implementation of an Instant Tow Dispatch program and an Authority Removal Law was recommended