This report describes the research performed to develop a framework and a research

approach to achieve insight into two important components of freight transportation in

Alabama, and the U.S. The first objective is to develop the ability to project freight

traffic arising from retail sales to households or to the final demand sector of the

economy. Normally, this involves shipments from distribution centers and bonded

warehouses to retailers located in the state’s population centers. The research

demonstrates that this final leg of a shipment’s journey to the consumer is growing very

fast and evolving rapidly.

Major retail centers were identified in all of Alabama’s cities with populations of over

25,000. A subset of the retailers in these communities was chosen for a detailed analysis

of their distribution network. The researchers conducted interviews to gather information

about how each network operates. The information collected from the survey included

the geographical region served, the physical and operational characteristics of the

network, volume of traffic, and anticipated future traffic volumes. The survey revealed

that most distribution networks serving Alabama can either be characterized as hub and

spoke or route-based. The survey also uncovered many unique characteristics of each

network.

Finally, researchers determined a method to allocate freight traffic arising from the final

demand sector to Alabama counties. Several variables were tested including population,

employment, payroll and personal income. It was found that total personal income of

residents in the county appeared to work best with population coming in second.

The second research objective focuses on the use of federal freight flow data to forecast

the amount of pass through freight expected in urbanized areas in the state. The report

documents procedures developed to utilize the Freight Analysis Framework Version 2

Database to determine the number of vehicles passing through an urban area in Alabama.

The procedures developed in this research focus on the national level pass through data,

trips from one state to another that pass through other states only because of that state’s

location; pass through from the port of entries, where the urbanized area is located on a

major corridor; and statewide level through trip data, trips from one part of the state to

another that pass through the urbanized area because of its geographic location.

The need for, and application of, the pass through freight forecasting is evident in the

transportation planning models each state is expected to develop and maintain for

evaluating transportation projects. The ability to forecast accurately the pass through

freight movements will benefit transportation planners in urbanized areas by being able to identify freight volumes that must be accommodated by the infrastructure, but for which

the local area has no direct method to survey.