Memorandum of Understanding

WHEREAS, the economic health of our region is dependent upon efficient movement of products;

WHEREAS, we are faced with growing congestion on our air, highway, rail, and water transportation systems;

WHEREAS, our international competitors are eliminating the traditional advantage that transportation has given the region in trade;

WHEREAS, freight shipments move across state and national boundaries making us mutually dependent upon our transportation systems infrastructure;

WHEREAS, the trade between the states in the region is important for our economic well being;

WHEREAS, action is required to ensure that our transportation systems are adequate to move products of the region; and

WHEREAS, SAFETEA-LU created a freight transportation center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison which has been the lead institution in data collection, identifying issues, and facilitating dialog among the states in the upper Midwest.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the member states of the Mississippi Valley Conference agree to:

  1. Establish a Mississippi Valley Freight Coalition to cooperate in the planning,operation, preservation, and improvement of transportation system infrastructure in the region.
  2. Cooperate in efforts to engage the public and private sectors in the process for improving the efficiency of the freight transportation systems in the region.
  3. Establish a customer committee made up of freight carriers, shippers, third party providers and affiliated organization representatives to provide input to the Coalition.
  4. Establish a technical advisory/resource group made up of experts in the fields of freight operations and intermodal transportation to propose, recommend for approval by the executive committee, and implement a plan of action for improving the regional freight transportation systems.
  5. Establish an executive committee made up of state Department of Transportation CEOs, or their designees, to guide regional cooperative efforts and approve a plan of action to be implemented by the technical committee.

For more information, download the complete Memorandum of Understanding.