USDOT releases multi-year strategic freight plan

The U.S. Department of Transportation yesterday issued the 2026 National Freight Strategic Plan (NFSP), a five-year outline for modernizing and enhancing the safety, security and efficiency of the country's nearly 7 million-mile multimodal freight network.

The first NFSP was issued in 2020 and identified the challenges of e-commerce and the shift toward the United States becoming a net energy exporter, according to a press release from the USDOT. The 2026 plan outlines six focus areas — safety, efficiency, security, resiliency, innovation and workforce. Each goal area contains objectives and areas for improvement for each sector of the freight network, including rail.

"The department will use this plan to guide national freight policy, programs, initiatives and investments; inform guidance to states developing their own freight plans; identify freight data and research needs; inform selection priorities for USDOT's freight-related competitive funding programs; and provide a framework for increased cross-sector, multi-state and multimodal coordination and partnerships," USDOT officials said.