1. Jeremy Sage, Eric Jessup & Ken Casavant
Investing in Connectivity: A Geographic Argument for the Importance of Agricultural Freight Flows
Jeremy Sage, Eric Jessup & Ken Casavant
91st Annual Conference of the Western Economic Association International
June 30, 2016

2. Why Should We Care About Freight Movement?
Indicator of Economic Activity – Output, Jobs, Trade
Efficient flows reduce costs
Prioritizing Investment in Infrastructure
MAP-21
FAST Act
Roadway Damage
Freight flows not easy to obtain at local or sub-regional level

3. Understanding Freight Flows
Freight Analysis Framework (FAF3, FAF4)
What it Does: “The FAF provides a comprehensive national picture of freight flows, trends, and a baseline forecast to support policy studies. The FAF informs states and localities about their major trading partners and the volumes and sources of traffic passing through their jurisdictions at the corridor level.”
What it Does Not Do: “The FAF does not provide local detail or temporal (seasonal, daily, or hourly) variation in freight flows that are typically necessary to support project planning. While statistical methods exist that allow analysts to disaggregate FAF data from FAF regions to counties or smaller areas, FHWA has not measured any of these methods to establish estimates of reliability or accuracy. FAF estimates of truck tonnage and number of trucks on the network, particularly in regions with multiple routes or significant local traffic between major centers of freight activity, should be supplemented with local data to support local applications.”
--FHWA

4. Understanding Freight Flows
Commodity Flow Survey
Shipper based survey that is a part of the Economic Census
Does not cover Agriculture (NAICS 11)

7. Understanding Freight Flows – Sub-Regional
Commodity Flow Survey – Freight Analysis Framework
Intercept Surveys
Traffic Counts

8. Washington Freight Mobility Plan
Developed and Defined Freight Economic Corridors
Based on the Freight Goods Transportation System (FGTS)
Freight and Goods Transportation System (FGTS): Roadway Classification
T-1 = More than 10 Million Tons per Year
T-2 = 4-10 Million Tons per Year
T-3 = Million Tons per Year
T-4 = 100,000 – 300,000 Tons per Year
T-5 = at least 20,000 tons in 60 days and
Less than 100,000 Tons per Year

9. Washington State Freight Economic Corridors
Statewide:
To-and-from T1 and T2 truck routes and strategic U.S. defense facilities
Over-dimensional truck freight routes that connect the state’s significant intermodal facilities to the T1 and T2 highway system 
In urban areas: 
To-and-from the Interstate system and the
(1) closest major airport with air freight service,
(2) marine terminals, ports, other intermodal facilities
(3) warehouse/industrial lands
From high-volume urban freight intermodal facilities to other urban intermodal facilities, e.g. from the Port of Seattle to the BNSF rail yard in Seattle

10. Washington State Freight Economic Corridors
In rural areas: 
To-and-from state freight hubs located within five miles of T1 and T2 highways; freight hubs are defined as:
(1) agricultural processing centers
(2) distribution centers
(3) intermodal facilities
(4) industrial/commercial zoned land
Apples; Milk; Wheat; Potato; Beef/Calves
Routes that carry one million tons during three months of the year (reflecting seasonality) of agricultural, timber or other resource industry sector goods

11. Washington State Freight Economic Corridors

14. 4th highest volume of rural centerline miles in the state.
1,461 of its 1,899 miles of rural roadway are unpaved (2nd most of any county).
More bridges than any other county (251 County owned).
56 are considered Functionally Obsolete or Structurally Deficient.

16. Whitman County at a Glance: 2012 Census of Agriculture
Wheat
(Winter & Spring)
County Total
Percentage
Number of Farms
523
1,195
44%
Average Farm Size
844
1,067 -
Total Farm Acres
441,417
1,275,110
35%
Wheat Yield (Bu)
32,943,471
Bushels per Acre 75

19. How does Wheat move in the PNW? >80% bound for export.
499 Acres
13 Acres
Per Truck
~ 38 Trucks
~ 988 tons
How does Wheat move in the PNW?
>80% bound for export.

20. Truck Movements are Very Localized
Nearly 3,000 Wheat farms in WA, but less than 30 major suppliers and buyers (typically Co-ops);
Own elevators throughout the region, located to readily access rail and waterways;
Elevators attract from a range of miles;
Some larger elevators may have slightly larger catchment.

21. Multimodal Movements Standard Modal Freight Unit Capacities
Standard Cargo Capacity
Highway - Truck
26 tons
Rail - Bulk Car
111 tons
Barge - Dry Bulk
1,750 tons
Equivalent Units
Mode of Transportation
Equivalence By Mode
1 Barge
16 Rail Cars
68 Trucks
Cost per Ton-Mile (cents)
0.72
2.24
26.61
Ton-Mile per Gallon of Fuel
616
478
150

23. Allocating Truck Movements to Roadways: The Transportation Problem
Identify the most efficient way (least cost) to service a set of destinations from a set of origins.
Field Based Origins
Elevator Based Destinations
Uses the Simplex Method in Linear Programming
Supply Constraints
Demand Constraints
Flow Costs (Distance, Cost, Time) –
Based on All or Nothing Assignment on Least Cost Route.

27. To-and-from state freight hubs located within five miles of T1 and T2 highways; freight hubs are defined as: (1) agricultural processing centers (2) distribution centers (3) intermodal facilities (4) industrial/commercial zoned land

28. Do the Freight Economic Corridors Serve the Needs of the County?
Largely misses opportunities to capitalize on the intermodal nature of bulk movements.
Both rail lines are owned by the state for the purpose of wheat movement;
Ready rail access (low truck miles) reduces wear and tear on roads;
River movement is low cost, safe, and very low emissions.
By accounting for the intermodal flow of wheat, the state county and local municipalities can better prioritize investment.

29. Expanding this approach
Account for transshipments
Utilization of small elevators or on farm storage that feed larger, intermodal elevators
Expand crop base
Include pulse crops that have a decidedly different supply chain
Include other Industries in the state/region
Argument for expanding the criteria for
“Freight Economic Corridors”

30. Washington State University Freight Policy Transportation Institute
THANK YOU!!
For more Information:
Washington State University
Freight Policy Transportation Institute
Ken Casavant, Director
Eric Jessup, Associate Director