From Farm to Market: The Data Challenges of Rural Roads
About 15 percent of trucks registered in the United States are used for forestry, mining, and food service industries. In 2021, these sectors—combined with other related industries—contributed about 5.4 percent ($1.264 trillion) of the total U.S. gross domestic product. Despite the growth in agricultural freight in the United States, the lack of data collected about the roadways connecting farms to markets limits transportation agencies’ ability to measure performance, plan, and invest in agricultural freight infrastructure.
Factors such as network and equipment ownership, the use of multiple modes in many agricultural shipments, and seasonality all influence the availability and quality of data. For example, farms and freight trucks are primarily owned and operated by the private sector, while the public sector typically owns, operates, and maintains farm-to-market roads. In addition, trucks often transport agricultural products from the farm to a transload facility, where their journey continues by rail or barge. Such multimodal data can be challenging to obtain. Farm equipment is also less likely to traverse the interstate and arterial systems, where data sources collect road network conditions and performance, truck flows, traffic trends, and more. Agricultural truck traffic is often seasonal, with major surges in truck traffic during harvesting. Though a few State departments of transportation (DOTs) identify and designate farm-to-market roads, data collection needs to be more consistent and reported to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The lack of nationwide data on the roads connecting farms to markets—and the safety concerns surrounding the journeys of produce and livestock—impede conducting a comprehensive evaluation of the U.S. agricultural supply chain and overall network performance.
Lack of consistent data definitions for “farm-to-market” roads also limit the full understanding of how these networks contribute to U.S. global competitiveness. In 2022, 2.9 of 4.2 million road miles in the United States were rural. Such roads support agricultural facilities or serve as gateways to other U.S. highways and interstates.
The U.S. agricultural sector and farms are essential for a healthy economy and national security. However, due to poor infrastructure, nearly all first-mile segments of farm-to-market (or agricultural) trips are the most unreliable components of the U.S. agricultural supply chain. These same roads may also not be designed to handle modern trucks in size and weight. Other infrastructure, like bridges, also have the potential to impact trucks and farm equipment travel. In 2016, nearly 9 percent of bridges on rural and local roads were rated as poor condition, proportionally higher than the other functionally classified roads. In addition, weather events (e.g., heavy rain, flooding, snow) on unpaved roads may make them impassable for trucks and farm equipment. With 70 percent of the U.S. road mileage being rural, including paved and unpaved streets, these networks are critical for a vibrant and resilient agriculture supply chain.
Filling in National Road Data Gaps
The Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) is the key USDOT road data program for highway inventory, condition, performance, and operating characteristics. Each State DOT collects and reports these data to the Federal Highway Administration. Some States also designate farm-to-market roads and provide special funding for them. USDOT does not require data for farm-to-market designated roads to be reported back to the Federal government, creating a pool of data available locally but not federally.
While HPMS represents detailed road inventory and usage information for arterial and collector functional systems, summary data on local roads are more limited. HPMS road inventory data are updated annually and are used for Congressional reporting, identification, and designation of road networks to meet various statutory requirements. HPMS data are also used for mapping U.S. public roads and in the apportionment process for various Federal transportation funds. The lack of information about farm-to-market roads constrains the ability to comprehensively assess the U.S. agricultural supply chain. HPMS periodically reassesses its processes for data improvement. The expansion of HPMS sample sections to include rural minor collectors and local roads is one of the most feasible avenues for filling this national data gap.
Safety on Local Rural Roads
Rural road safety is a national priority. The latest data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that of the 42,939 motor vehicle fatalities in 2021, 40 percent occurred in rural areas—a 5-percent increase from 2020. Design, signage, and visual obstructions are some of the influential factors. For example, rural roads are typically narrow and winding, often lacking the proper traffic signage and markings standard to arterial roads. Rural roads are also subject to unique visual obstructions caused by seasonally growing crops. Crops in rural areas are attractive to animals, often leading to dangerous wildlife crossings and strikes. In addition, rural roads may be traversed by a wide variety of local farm vehicles and equipment (i.e., tractors, combines, farm buggies) and by cars, trucks, school buses, bicycles, and pedestrians. This mix of vehicles, topography, and road conditions increases the risk of unexpected events and incidents.
Many farm-to-market shipments often require transport in bulky freight trucks that require smooth, wide roads for efficient travel. The physical dimensions of the vehicles and the roads have both safety and efficiency impacts. For example, farming equipment traversing rural roads are often confronted with limited road widths, poor signage, oncoming traffic, queuing, and insufficient parking. Even though these vehicles travel at slow rates of speed, safety considerations still exist. Narrow rural roads leave no safe pull-off areas for the equipment driver or other vehicles and can lead to road departure incidents or collisions.
Trucks delivering products to receiving facilities located along rural roads often queue, while they are waiting to offload, on the limited shoulder available. These long queues create dangerous situations for others traveling along that route. Coordination with the receiving facilities (including ports) to understand their scheduling systems could support the improvement and reduction of these queues.
Deteriorating infrastructure conditions and congestion (due to weather-related incidents, lane closures, construction zones, etc.) can force farmers to divert their shipments onto longer, less-than-ideal routes. Longer routes can increase a farmer’s shipment costs and the potential for food spoilage while reducing on-time deliveries. Increased shipping costs affect both the profit to farmers and the final costs to consumers. Poor infrastructure conditions and congestion levels also impact trucks trying to deliver agricultural goods at ports or logistics yards, causing them to potentially miss their unload times or experience a complete product loss.
Prioritizing funding for rural road construction and maintenance will help ensure truck drivers can take the most efficient routes. This dedicated funding would also help improve roadway safety (e.g., by widening roads and pull-off areas), protect farm vehicles against damage from uneven road surfaces and unmaintained roads, and shorten travel times for all drivers, including passenger cars and emergency vehicles.
How States Approach Designating Roads Connecting Farms and Markets
Although many State DOTs do not have laws and formal processes to exclusively integrate and designate these critical local roadways connecting farms to markets into their business process and long-range planning, a handful of States do. For the States that do have laws, however, their processes are unique to their respective State and may be vastly different than the other States with laws.
For instance, Texas DOT (TxDOT) typically designates and owns farm-to-market roads in the State. Such roads are typically two-lane, paved roads in rural areas with speed limits of up to 75 miles (121 kilometers [km]) per hour. Texas constructed its first farm-to-market road in 1937. In 1949, the State’s legislature passed the Colson-Briscoe Act, calling for an annual appropriation of $15 million from the State General Fund to construct additional farm-to-market roads. In 2022, farm-to-market roads represented 47 percent (37,907 centerline miles [61,005 centerline km]) of the State’s total roadway mileage. TxDOT designates agricultural roads as either farm-to-market roads or ranch-to-market roads. Ranch-to-market roads are in the Texas Trans-Pecos and Hill Country regions; farm-to-market roads are in other parts of the State. Humberto “Tito” Gonzalez, Jr., P.E., director of TxDOT’s Transportation Planning and Programming Division expressed that “farm-to-market roads provide our agriculture, energy, and timber production regions with vital connections to rural areas and urban centers, facilitating the safe and reliable movement of people and goods. Providing access to healthcare, education, employment, entertainment, and other essential services, [farm-to-market] roads help improve the quality of life for Texans across the State.”
In Washington State, the Washington DOT (WSDOT) identifies heavily used freight transportation networks and designates these corridors as the Freight and Goods Transportation System (FGTS). FGTS-identified roads may include State highways, county roads, and city streets. The FGTS designation informs investment from grants provided by the Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board, which includes roadways that connect farms to markets. “The Freight and Goods Transportation System is unique to Washington State,” said Jason Biggs, director of WSDOT’s Rail, Freight, and Ports Division. “It provides a data-driven framework for designating corridors important to freight movement. WSDOT and our partners rely on this designation to prioritize freight investments and further improve [the] safe, efficient, and reliable movement of freight across Washington.” WSDOT designates and updates the FGTS system every two years to meet State legislative requirements, support transportation planning processes, and inform freight investment decisions.
By incorporating freight corridor designation into investment considerations, Texas and Washington States are working toward improving safety and reliability of their rural road networks.
Federally Designated Freight Roadway Systems and Formula Funds
While U.S. States are responsible for planning, constructing, and maintaining the transportation systems and networks within their jurisdictions, Federal funds (both formula and discretionary) support States as they implement specific projects and strategies. FHWA administers two statutorily required freight-focused nationwide roadway network systems that are critical for the movement of freight across the United States. The Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (also known as the FAST ACT) established the National Highway Freight Network (NHFN) and established funding for this network through the National Highway Freight Program (NHFP). The National Network (NN) was authorized much earlier by the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 (Public Law 97-424) in 23 Code of Federal Regulations 658 and supports interstate commerce by regulating the size of trucks. The Federal government works with States and metropolitan planning organizations to designate their roadway network through the NHFP. Currently, these designations are focused on a higher functional class of roadway vehicles and national traffic flows.
Congress established a new NHFP in 23 United States Code 167 to improve the efficient movement of freight on the NHFN and ensure the network provides the foundation for the United States to compete in the global economy. The NHFP provides formula funding apportioned annually to States for use on the NHFN. From fiscal year 2021 through 2026, the NHFP funding totals $8.64 billion. NHFP funds may be used for projects that contribute to the efficient movement of freight on the NHFN. A portion of NHFP funds may also be used for rail or water facilities (including ports) to facilitate intermodal transfer and access to the facility. This can be used to improve access for trucks carrying agricultural products to rail or barge transload facilities.
From a mileage perspective, NHFN is relatively small, representing 1 percent of the total 4.2 million miles (6.8 million km) of public roadways in the United States; it has great economic significance. Roads on the NHFN are within 10 miles (16 km) of 94 percent of all U.S. jobs and 92 percent of all U.S. business locations. The NHFN helps facilitate domestic and international trade. Ninety-six percent of jobs in the U.S. transportation and warehousing sector and 94 percent of jobs in retail trade are within 20 miles (32 km) of the NHFN.
The NHFN consists of four separate highway network components: Primary Highway Freight System (PHFS), Critical Rural Freight Corridors (CRFCs), Critical Urban Freight Corridors (CUFCs), and portions of the interstate system that are not part of the PHFS (non-PHFS interstates). The PHFS and non-PHFS components of the NHFN represent roads that reflect the most critical highway portions of the U.S. freight transportation system. CRFCs and CUFCs are important freight corridors that provide local network connectivity.
States may designate a public road within its borders as a CRFC if it is not in an urbanized area. Such designations can help strategically direct resources toward these roads that connects farms to markets. The 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law increased mileage thresholds for CRFC from 150 to 300 miles (241 to 483 km) or 20 percent of the PHFS for that State, whichever is greater. Designation of CRFCs and CUFCs will increase the State's NHFN, allowing expanded use of NHFP formula funds. As of December 2022, about 60,110 centerline miles (96,738 centerline km) of U.S. roads are NHFN designated.
States are required to allow conventional combinations trucks on the NN, which includes the interstate system and portions of the Federal-aid primary system. Conventional combinations are tractors with one semitrailer up to 48 feet (14.6 meters) in length or with one 28-foot (8.5-meters) semitrailer and one 28-foot (8.5-meters) trailer and can be up to 102 inches (259 centimeters) wide. The NN is approximately 200,000 miles (321,869 km) and is modified only if roadway segments are added to the interstate highway system or if States petition to have a segment beyond the interstate highway system added or deleted.
Funding of Freight Projects from Federal Competitive Grants
USDOT and FHWA competitive grant programs help fund different types of transportation projects and activities. These grants are often distributed through a competitive selection process targeted to interested and eligible applicants. Each operating administration (e.g., FHWA and Federal Transit Administration) solicits applications through a Notice of Funding Opportunity. Projects are selected based on program eligibility, evaluation criteria, and USDOT or program priorities.
Conclusion
Freight activity in the United States continues to increase yearly since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Total U.S. trade was valued at approximately $20 trillion in 2023, with trucks carrying 72 percent of flows. Between 2023 and 2050, the U.S. freight activity is expected to grow by 78 percent and $36 trillion, with trucks continuing to be the single most-used mode.
Rural roads comprise the largest portion of the U.S. road network, but the U.S. needs more data on their traffic volumes, condition, and performance to better analyze farm-to-market supply chains and their resiliency.
A freight supply chain is only as resilient as its weakest component. Safe, reliable, and well-connected farm-to-market roads are critical for national security, the national economy, and the U.S. food supply.
Birat Pandey, an engineer, is the freight analysis and data program manager for FHWA’s Office of Operations. He manages the agency’s NHFN program and works freight modeling, freight truck automation, and emerging technology initiatives.
Amber Reimnitz is a certified Project Management Professional and engineer with over 17 years of experience in planning, engineering, and operations of emerging transportation technologies.
For more information, see https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/, or contact Birat Pandey at birat.pandey@dot.gov or Amber Reimnitz at amber.reimnitz@dot.gov. For more details on USDOT-provided grants, visit https://www.transportation.gov/grants.
Grant Program | Program Description |
INFRA - Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highway Projects | Provides grants for multimodal freight and highway projects of national or regional significance. https://www.transportation.gov/grants/infra-grant-program |
RAISE - Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity | Provides grants for surface transportation infrastructure projects with a significant local or regional impact (aka5 Local and Regional Project Assistance). https://www.transportation.gov/RAISEgrants |
Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program | Provides grants for projects to improve and expand the surface transportation infrastructure in rural areas to increase connectivity, improve the safety and reliability of the movement of people and freight, generate regional economic growth, and improve quality of life. https://www.transportation.gov/grants/rural-surface-transportation-grant-program |
RTEPF - Reduction of Truck Emissions at Port Facilities Grant Program | Studies and provides grants to reduce idling at port facilities, including through the electrification of port operations. https://www.transportation.gov/rural/grant-toolkit/reduction-truck-emissions-port-facilities |