GSCW chat recap: Biden blueprint for last-mile delivery

‘We’ve been able to prove that near-miss incidents are proxies for incidents that have more dire consequences, like crashes, injuries and fatalities’

David Braunstein (right) with FreightWaves’ John Gallagher.

This fireside chat recap is from Day 3 of FreightWaves’ Global Supply Chain Week. Day 3 focuses on CPG/food shippers.

FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Infrastructure investment and last-mile delivery

DETAILS: President Joe Biden unveiled a $1.3 trillion, 10-year infrastructure plan last year that will be the blueprint for an infrastructure package that the freight transportation industry is hoping Congress will pass later this year. Biden’s blueprint holds investment opportunities for last-mile freight delivery and has the potential for making this sector of the supply chain safer and more efficient.

SPEAKER: David Braunstein, president, Together for Safer Roads

BIO: Known for breaking new ground using connected analytics solutions, Braunstein has helped scale and sustain Together for Safer Roads’ efforts to improve road safety and save lives. His responsibilities include overseeing the organization’s strategic direction on behalf of Together for Safer Roads’ governing board and membership, implementing TSR-supported local demonstration projects, advancing its thought leadership, building key partnerships, as well as increasing the coalition’s connections to the international road safety community.

KEY QUOTES FROM BRAUNSTEIN:

“Our members are making some changes to make the end-to-end experience of grocery delivery safer within the supply chain, and part of that is installing new safety technology on their vehicles.”

“Having more dedicated cycling infrastructure is important because cycling is taking off and commercial road users are encountering cyclists more often. Those highway safety improvement programs [included in Biden’s infrastructure plan] are going to emphasize those kinds of improvements – and they don’t have to negatively impact freight efficiency.”

“With someone like Pete Buttigieg leading DOT, I think you might find some creative avenues that are proposed that relate to public-private partnerships that can let us better understand who’s using roads, who’s using them safely and who’s using them effectively.”

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John Gallagher

Based in Washington, D.C., John specializes in regulation and legislation affecting all sectors of freight transportation. He has covered rail, trucking and maritime issues since 1993 for a variety of publications based in the U.S. and the U.K. John began business reporting in 1993 at Broadcasting & Cable Magazine. He graduated from Florida State University majoring in English and business.