Background Research Material for Freight Facility Location Selection: A Guide for Public Officials (NCFRP Report 13)

Public agencies need to understand what drives the demand for and success of freight facilities in order to best respond to siting requests and proactively create and preserve opportunities for freight-intensive uses. A limited understanding of site-selection criteria and the dynamic supply chain logistics context can lead public officials to expend time and resources on flawed business attraction strategies and to incorrectly respond to facility proposals. Likewise, inadequate knowledge of the community’s place in the supply chain can lead to unsatisfactory choices for transportation and land use planning as well as economic development policy. To adequately develop strategies for freight facilities, public sector decision-makers need a better understanding of drivers and impacts to ultimately understand the return on investment of public and public-private initiatives. This understanding also includes recognition of the different categories of freight facilities from inland ports and intermodal terminals to bulk and transload facilities, and warehouse and distribution center facilities. With this understanding of current trends and challenges, the objective of this research project was to develop a guide and research foundation that: (1) informs public sector decision makers on the key drivers that private sector entities use in siting logistics facilities; (2) informs the public sector about the complexity and interconnectedness of the various facility types and the role they play in goods movement and supply chain management; and (3) enhances the potential for successful projects. This technical report and the accompanying guide (NCFRP Report 13) were written with the goal of using the working knowledge of corporate real estate and supply chain executives as well as their service providers to provide the base of information needed to ensure that public officials can understand the issues, the process, and the drivers behind freight location decisions and become more successful partners in the location process. The technical report is organized in 9 sections: (1) Introduction; (2) Literature Review; (3) Survey of Public and Private Perspectives; (4) Freight Logistics Facility Types; (5) The Location Selection Process; (6) Key Criteria and Data Requirements for Facility Location Decisions; (7) Current Dynamics Impacting Facility Location Decisions; (8) Case Studies of Freight Logistics Facilities; and (9) The Critical Roles of Groundwork and Collaboration.