Rural Freight Transportation Conference

Highlighting economic, planning, and policy issues associated with promoting effective and efficient multimodal export alternatives for rural economies

The conference was held at the Minneapolis Airport Marriott in Bloomington, MN on Sept. 8, 2004. Guests also had the opportunity to attend U.S. Midwest Specialty Grains Conference on Sept. 9-10.

Schedule

Morning, 8:30 a.m.

1. Leveraging Rural Freight Transportation Resources, Leo Penne, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, D.C.
   View Presentation (PDF, 813K)
2. Financing Rural Freight Infrastructure,
   Moderator: Cecil Selness, Minnesota Department of Transportation
   1. Innovative Financing Infrastructure for Rural Freight Needs, Kate Quinn, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. DOT
      View Presentation (PDF, 41K)
   2. Valuing and Managing Rural Infrastructure, Toby Madden, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
      View Presentation (PDF, 79K)
3. Offering Innovations in Rural Freight Transport,
   Moderator: David Grier, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers
   1. Successes in Public-Private Partnerships, Mark Berndt, Wilbur Smith Associates
      View Presentation (PDF, 5401K)
   2. Moving Containers on the Mississippi River, Jerry Fruin, University of Minnesota
      View Presentation (PDF, 2888K)

Lunch

4. Accessing Markets from Rural Areas, Gary Cardwell, Northwest Container Services

Afternoon, 1:00 p.m.

5. Looking into the Future of Rural Freight Resources,
   Moderator: Nick Marathon, Transportation and Marketing Branch, USDA
   1. Managing Roads for Rural Economies, David Sprynczynatyk, North Dakota Department of Transportation
      View Presentation (PDF, 7067K)
   2. Serving Missouri River User Needs, Chris Dager, Tennessee Valley Authority
      View Presentation (PDF, 1550K)
   3. Understanding Upper Mississippi Investments, Wesley Wilson, University of Oregon
      View Presentation (PDF, 127K)
   4. Intermodal Terminals in Small and Medium-Sized Cities, Libby Ogard
      View Presentation (PDF, 2667K)
6. Challenges & Opportunities in Containerized Agricultural and Rural Freight Product Marketing,
   Moderator: Jim Caron, Transportation and Marketing Branch, USDA
   1. Kimberly Vachal - North Dakota State University
      View Presentation (PDF, 263K)
   2. Steve Salzman - Burlington Northern Santa Fe
      View Presentation (PDF, 1430K)
   3. Vincent Sullivan - Port of Tacoma
   4. Peter Friedman - Agricultural Ocean Transportation Coalition (AgOTC)
      View Handout (PDF, 14K)

Networking Reception

Conference Cosponsors: US DOT, University Transportation Centers, Mountain-Plains Consortium; Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute, North Dakota State University; Transportation and Marketing Programs, United States Department of Agriculture; and Agricultural Transport Committee, Transportation Research Board; Transportation Research Forum, and U.S. Midwest Shippers' Association