Several transportation and trade stakeholders, including the National Association of Manufacturers, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Retail Foundation, have called on the Department of Transportation to establish the Office of Multimodal Freight Infrastructure and Policy.

Given the sustained interest in supply chains, a national freight office would help coordinate activities across the federal government and provide senior-level leadership to guide federal decision-making in supply chain competitiveness, security, and fluidity, the stakeholders wrote in an Aug. 30 letter to the Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. The creation of the office is required under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The role of the office would also be to coordinate the business community and freight stakeholders to address freight challenges, including helping states direct funding to support economic competitiveness and anticipate challenges to freight networks.

The letter said this office would be a “natural successor to the important coordinating role that the White House’s Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force played during the 2021 global supply chain crisis.”