Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

outbound

Money alone won't solve our infrastructure woes

A steady and predictable source funding will help, but there are other steps we can take to get our infrastructure repairs back on track.

President Donald Trump, a man who always has a lot to say, has been promoting a plan to spend $1 trillion (yes, that's trillion with a "T") to get our nation's badly crumbling infrastructure into 21st century shape. As with so many proposals bandied about by the current administration, time will tell whether Trump will actually translate his words into action.

The current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is not the first tenant in recent memory who has pledged to fix the roads and bridges that form the backbone of the U.S. transportation system and serve as the nation's central artery for commerce. Anyone remember all those "shovel ready" projects Trump's predecessor talked about but that never saw the light of day?


So, as we wait to see if anything will come from all the talk, it was refreshing to review a policy brief on infrastructure from the Committee for Economic Development of the Conference Board (CED). The CED, founded in 1942, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, business-led public policy organization that in its words, "delivers research, analysis, and reasoned solutions to our nation's most critical issues." CED's work is grounded on seven core principles: sustainable capitalism, long-term economic growth, efficient fiscal and regulatory policy, competitive and open markets, a globally competitive workforce, equal economic opportunity, and nonpartisanship in the nation's interest. What's not to like, right?

Titled Fixing America's Roads & Bridges: The Path Forward, the CED report pulls no punches. "Although America's network of roads, bridges, and tunnels is critical to the economy and American quality of life, it has been poorly maintained for decades," the authors write. That history of deferred maintenance, taken together with what they describe as "a growing gap between investment needs and available funds," threatens our collective access to a safe, reliable transportation network, they warn.

What's particularly notable about the study is its thoughtful analysis of how the U.S.—a nation that once boasted the world's best surface transportation system—ended up in this plight. As the authors make clear, money alone didn't cause the problem and money alone won't fix it. Factors like poor project selection, the politicization of transportation spending, and slipshod financial analysis have played into it as well. These challenges, too, must be addressed if we hope to return our highways and bridges to a state of good repair.

As part of its brief, the group offered recommendations for fixing America's infrastructure. What follows is a summary of those suggestions:

  • Encourage greater private-sector participation in road building and maintenance. Among other benefits, increased private-sector participation would likely mean faster project completion because the risk of delay is transferred to private partners through contractual penalties and rewards.
  • Improve project selection and foster "modal coordination" across systems. Public officials should consider road, bridge, and other modal investment decisions as part of the larger transportation network and not as standalone projects. Politics, not system needs, often drive project selection, which increases costs.
  • Streamline regulatory review and permitting at all levels. Inefficient regulatory review processes often cause long delays and substantially increase project costs.
  • Invest in technology. Driverless and increasingly autonomous cars, for example, will require modernized roads. Furthermore, greater use of roadbed sensors to communicate with vehicles, and integration of real-time traffic and weather alerts, should be the norm, not the exception.
  • Move toward user fees to fund roads and bridges. This includes increasing reliance on mileage-based user fees, which could fluctuate based on the demand for road space at particular times of day. Greater use of such fees would provide an equitable, reliable revenue source to cover operational and maintenance costs.
  • Inform and educate the public. Many Americans are understandably unfamiliar with the complexities of infrastructure funding and believe that their tax dollars already adequately fund roads and bridges. Leaders in both the public and private sectors should work together and communicate the importance of a strong surface transportation system directly to the public to mobilize their interest and support for infrastructure that is second to none.

Read the full CED report.

The Latest

More Stories

Warehouse automation project orders fell 3% in 2024

Warehouse automation project orders fell 3% in 2024

Warehouse automation orders declined by 3% in 2024, according to a February report from market research firm Interact Analysis. The company said the decline was due to economic, political, and market-specific challenges, including persistently high interest rates in many regions and the residual effects of an oversupply of warehouses built during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The research also found that increasing competition from Chinese vendors is expected to drive down prices and slow revenue growth over the report’s forecast period to 2030.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

drawing of woman using supply chain software on tablet

Körber Supply Chain Software to rebrand as “Infios”

The logistics tech provider Körber Supply Chain Software continues to position itself in a fast-changing business landscape, aligning itself today with the digital transformation consulting firm Zero100.

That move comes shortly after Körber Supply Chain Software acquired the transportation management system (TMS) software firm MercuryGate, and then launched a literal rebranding of its name to “Infios.”

Keep ReadingShow less
screenshot of kodiak hub software

Swedish supply chain tech firm Kodiak Hub expands to U.S.

The Swedish supply chain software company Kodiak Hub is expanding into the U.S. market, backed by a $6 million venture capital boost for its supplier relationship management (SRM) platform.

The Stockholm-based company says its move could help U.S. companies build resilient, sustainable supply chains amid growing pressure from regulatory changes, emerging tariffs, and increasing demands for supply chain transparency.

Keep ReadingShow less

Logistics gives back: February 2025

Here's our monthly roundup of some of the charitable works and donations by companies in the material handling and logistics space.

  • For the sixth consecutive year, dedicated contract carriage and freight management services provider Transervice Logistics Inc. collected books, CDs, DVDs, and magazines for Book Fairies, a nonprofit book donation organization in the New York Tri-State area. Transervice employees broke their own in-house record last year by donating 13 boxes of print and video assets to children in under-resourced communities on Long Island and the five boroughs of New York City.
  • Logistics real estate investment and development firm Dermody Properties has recognized eight community organizations in markets where it operates with its 2024 Annual Thanksgiving Capstone awards. The organizations, which included food banks and disaster relief agencies, received a combined $85,000 in awards ranging from $5,000 to $25,000.
  • Prime Inc. truck driver Dee Sova has donated $5,000 to Harmony House, an organization that provides shelter and support services to domestic violence survivors in Springfield, Missouri. The donation follows Sova's selection as the 2024 recipient of the Trucking Cares Foundation's John Lex Premier Achievement Award, which was accompanied by a $5,000 check to be given in her name to a charity of her choice.
  • Employees of dedicated contract carrier Lily Transportation donated dog food and supplies to a local animal shelter at a holiday event held at the company's Fort Worth, Texas, location. The event, which benefited City of Saginaw (Texas) Animal Services, was coordinated by "Lily Paws," a dedicated committee within Lily Transportation that focuses on improving the lives of shelter dogs nationwide.
  • Freight transportation conglomerate Averitt has continued its support of military service members by participating in the "10,000 for the Troops" card collection program organized by radio station New Country 96.3 KSCS in Dallas/Fort Worth. In 2024, Averitt associates collected and shipped more than 18,000 holiday cards to troops overseas. Contributions included cards from 17 different Averitt facilities, primarily in Texas, along with 4,000 cards from the company's corporate office in Cookeville, Tennessee.

Catch a thief, stop a vandal

Electric vehicle (EV) sales have seen slow and steady growth, as the vehicles continue to gain converts among consumers and delivery fleet operators alike. But a consistent frustration for drivers has been pulling up to a charging station only to find that the charger has been intentionally broken or disabled.

To address that threat, the EV charging solution provider ChargePoint has launched two products to combat charger vandalism.

Keep ReadingShow less