The US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has awarded a $1.5 million a grant to the Virginia Port Authority for a ‘state-of-the-art’ truck reservation system, designed to save time for freight shippers.
Virginia Port Authority will use the funds for what the FHWA acclaims is a “cutting-edge” truck reservation system for access to container terminals which builds on the successes of similar technologies at the Port of New York-New Jersey.
The investment aims to will reduce delay for truck operators entering the terminals and create an efficient and reliable process for moving containers in and out of the port.
Truck congestion plagues many busy ports nationwide, raising costs for drivers as cargo volumes rise and bigger ships make calls at US ports.
The funding is part of the FHWA’s Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment (ATCMTD), which has presented funds of nearly $54 million to 10 projects that are aimed at developing technologies designed to enhance existing traffic capacity for commuters and businesses.
FHWA's ATCMTD program was developed in December 2015 under the “Fixing America's Surface Transportation” (FAST) Act — the first federal law in over a decade to provide long-term funding certainty for surface transportation infrastructure planning and investment.
State departments of transportation, local governments, transit agencies, metropolitan planning organizations and other eligible entities have all applied under the program.
Brandye L. Hendrickson, Acting Federal Highway Administrator, said: “Technology is the future of US transportation.
“With innovation such as this, we are making it easier for state and local officials to address the growing congestion problems of our nation’s highway system.”
