Center for Logistics, Trade and Transportation Receives Grant to Study Impact of Reshoring on Transportation

The University of Southern Mississippi Center for Logistics, Trade and Transportation (CLTT) has received a grant from the United State Department of Transportation Research and Innovative Technology Administration to develop tools and techniques to assess the impact of potential reshoring on transportation infrastructure.

Reshoring is the trend of manufacturing returning to the United States after being outsourced internationally. The research will assist public officials in making strategic freight facility investment decisions that support supply chain efficiencies, promote business growth, and in evaluating the potential economic impact of those investments.

“Advancing the understanding of reshoring will not only help public officials, transportation policy makers, and manufacturers in strategic decision making, but also will provide a competitive edge in repositioning transportation resources to maximize economic impact,” said Dr. MD Sarder, CLTT assistant director and principal investigator of the grant.

This multi-university project is being led by the CLTT which is part of the National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE) university transportation center consortium. Other researchers on the project are from the University of Alabama at Huntsville, the University of Memphis, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

The project has an industry advisory council that includes Dr. Harry Moser, founder of the reshoring Initiative; Bruce Lambert of the Institute for Trade and Transportation Studies; Bill Martin of the Franklin Furniture Institute; Matthew Wypyski, the Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Mississippi State Port Authority – Gulfport; and Dr John Provo from the Virginia Tech Office of Economic Development.

Studies have shown that mass offshoring of U.S. companies in the 1990s and early 2000s severely hurt the US manufacturing industry with job losses, losing control of quality and intellectual property, creating trade imbalances, and hurting GDP. Indications are that this trend is beginning to be reversed as many companies start to bring operations back to the US.  

The reshoring trend represents not only an opportunity to create economic competitiveness by increasing production of goods in the United States, but it also has the ability to drastically change and shape the geography of freight. This research will provide a better understanding of the transportation infrastructure needed to bring more manufacturing back to the US.

To learn more about the Center for Logistics, Trade and Transportation, call 601.266.4895 or visit: http://www.usm.edu/logistics-trade-transportation