Public Benefits of EFM Adoption

There are several areas of benefit to the general public that can be realized as a result of adoption of EFM. These benefits are postulated; there is not documented proof at this stage in U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) design and testing process. However, based on discussions with various stakeholders in both private industry and the public sector, these are raised as reasonable benefits that would accrue from widespread adoption of EFM.

The EFM facilitates the global trend of improving how information is exchanged between commercial and government partners along the supply chain. The DOT has sponsored EFM’s development, test, and initial deployment for its alignment with DOT’s mission of creating a safe and efficient transportation network within the U.S. An efficient freight sector is necessary to compete effectively in the global marketplace. Also, freight efficiency relates directly to public concerns about preserving mobility, mitigating congestion, and enhancing security. As trade, and particularly cross-border trade, increases at rates that greatly outpace our ability to add transportation capacity through physical infrastructure, the broader use of information management techniques becomes a viable path to supporting this desirable economic growth.

Mitigating Freight Congestion

EFM focuses on the connections between organizations; for example the freight handoffs at transportation terminals between modal carriers, forwarders and terminal agents. Handoffs of freight from one party to another generally occur at such facilities. Congestion results when the handoffs are delayed due to delays in the transfer of information between parties, such as actionable information related to pickup and delivery appointments; or when the transportation asset managers at those facilities do not have adequate visibility into the status of arriving shipments. With a sufficient penetration of adopters, it is believed that EFM can have a meaningful and positive effect on congestion reduction due to the improved visibility and overall improved information exchanges. From a public perspective, congestion contributes to inefficiencies in the transportation network, to environmental degradation, and to greater security risks.  Fewer but fuller loads translate into fewer vehicles on U.S. roads, decreasing congestion and improving the flow of critical goods and services that support the Nation’s economy and productivity.  Plus the improved flow of information between modes and among trading partners helps to reduce delay and congestion as well as port dwell time.

Promoting Safety and Security

The public and private sectors can both take advantage of EFM’s information sharing to help with risk mitigation strategies. For example, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as well as the brokers with which CBP works can use EFM to improve the accuracy of the data that will be input to CBP’s systems.  In addition, interested adopters can extend the EFM platform to include a “chain of possession” concept, as was tested by the DOT in a 2000-1 precursor project, the Electronic Supply Chain Manifest concept. Click here to view a copy of the final report of the evaluation of this test.

Encouraging Open, Competitive Markets

The ability of EFM to reduce the resources required to transact freight supply chains, in a macroeconomic sense, is a measure of EFM’s ability to improve economic competitiveness. Since all of the EFM components are completely open and publicly available, a range of kinds of organizations can evaluate how they can best take advantage of EFM.  Because EFM directly addresses the challenge that small enterprises with little or no IT investment face in participating in EDI and Value Added Network-intensive freight networks, it effectively levels the playing field and creates more opportunities for these small enterprises. 

Providing Environmental Benefits

Environmental benefits should accrue if transportation networks are operating more efficiently, for example with less idle dwell times for pollution-generating vehicles.  Truckers will be able to schedule pickups to maximize their loads, thus improving fuel efficiency. They will be able to plan their trips to avoid idling at docks or distribution centers while waiting for late arrivals. Overall, less fuel will be consumed and fewer greenhouse gases will be emitted from tailpipes.