Jeff Berman at Logistics Management has a great story on American Association of Port Authorities President and Chief Executive Officer Kurt Nagle and his push to keep improved freight mobility, including port access, a top legislative priority next year.

In a letter to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James L. Oberstar, Nagle wrote that, “AAPA urges you to prioritize policies and programs to improve the facilitation of goods movement in our transportation system. U.S. public port authorities provide a critical linkage in the freight network – connecting international shipping lanes with the U.S. highway system and providing intermodal connectors between water, rail and trucks. On average, each of our 50 states relies on 13 to 15 ports to handle its imports and exports, which total more than $1.3 billion worth of goods moving in and out of U.S. ports every day.”

Like his counterparts in other freight transportation modes, Nagle also noted that the establishment of a national freight program that includes coordination in planning at federal, state and local levels is vital. This national plan, he wrote, must have the ability to fund both large freight needs at the federal level and smaller regionally and locally significant needs at the state level.”

Read the full story here.