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About the Academy
The Freight Academy is a unique immersion program designed to efficiently train public sector agency staff whose planning, operational, and/or management work impact goods movement decisions, investments, and interactions. The Eastern Transportation Coalition (the Coalition) developed this Freight Academy with input from Coalition Members as a result of a number of trends that have emerged through their work on freight projects. These include: large increases in freight movements; dynamic changes in the goods movement industry; the need to understand freight as an integral part of the transportation system; and an increasing need to integrate freight facilities and operations with community goals. These important trends, combined with the knowledge that many experienced members of transportation agencies are scheduled to retire in the next 5 to 10 years, prompted the Coalition to sponsor the development and implementation of the Freight Academy.
Each Freight Academy class consists of thirty (30) people selected from a pool of applicants. The individuals selected are anticipated to be the next generation of public sector staff tasked with managing the freight system.
The Academy’s practical orientation to the private sector’s needs and decision-making processes provides participants with the knowledge to make sound investments and policies based on an understanding of the supply chain. To that end, participants will have unique opportunities to see and learn about the inner workings of the goods movement system, including maritime terminals, the distribution centers of major corporations, air cargo operations, trucking operations, and rail operations. Academy participants will also undertake a Capstone Project on important subjects submitted by Coalition agencies. The Capstone Project findings are reviewed by mentor panels comprised of senior executives from transportation and other agencies from within the I-95 Corridor region as well as nationally, including past Freight Academy graduates.
