Providing an Accurate Performance Measure of the Economic Contribution of the Freight Industry

Abstract

The economic impacts of freight movement on Maryland's economy were estimated by input-output analysis using the 2010 IMPLAN data. This effort was motivated by the absence of defendable performance measures for the economic contribution of freight transportation services. The analysis revealed that the freight industry generates sizable ripple effects. While the trucking sector is the largest by absolute employment size, the spillovers of maritime freight and port services are about seven times their employment size. The impact of government spending is also significant. The study findings and method will help decision-makers understand the role that each freight mode plays to make more informed decisions on transportation investments. The economic indicators used in this study (jobs, income, and gross domestic product (GDP)) can be used to mitigate the negative perceptions of freight movement. While travel time reduction and increased business productivity (used in past studies) are useful performance measures, jobs and income measures are more informative for public discourse.