After performing a review of U.S. air cargo trends, challenges, and federal activities, the Government Accountability Office is calling on the Department of Transportation to (1) assess and communicate air cargo data limitations, and (2) evaluate existing information and routinely communicate with stakeholders to identify, and determine if the DOT needs to help address, air cargo challenges. GAO states that the DOT has agreed with these recommendations.
The DOT is responsible for ensuring the safe and efficient movement of goods, including air cargo, and is also responsible for collecting data on air cargo movements and infrastructure locations. According to a recent GAO report, while some DOT air cargo data were sufficient to describe changes in volume, the agency has not assessed or communicated the reliability of other air cargo data. For example, GAO found that the DOT’s Freight Analysis Framework air cargo estimates were not sufficient to describe changes in air cargo value and commodities. Furthermore, the DOT has not fully assessed the reliability or communicated the limitations of these estimates. GAO states that, without doing so, stakeholders may not use the data appropriately for important purposes such as infrastructure planning and incident response.
In addition, more than two-thirds of the 37 stakeholders interviewed by GAO reported challenges with warehouses, truck areas, and roadways across 11 selected airports. Stakeholders most frequently reported challenges associated with older warehouses, which slowed operations. Many stakeholders also reported that a lack of truck areas and poorly configured roadways slowed operations and led to safety hazards.
According to GAO, the DOT’s recently established Office of Multimodal Freight Infrastructure and Policy has not taken steps to identify and address air cargo challenges. Ostensibly, the Multimodal Freight Office has not used existing information, such as freight plans that states share with DOT, to identify challenges, nor has it communicated with air cargo stakeholders to understand the challenges they face. Multimodal Freight Office officials said they intended to reach out to freight stakeholders, including for air cargo, within the next year as part of other ongoing efforts.
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