The Freight Transportation Condition and Performance Report under development in DOT includes a number of performance measures such as the value and tonnage of shipments by region and mode of transportation, delay and system resiliency, cost, safety, and environmental consequences.

A congressman from Illinois largely anticipated this list over 160 years ago. “The surplus, that which is produced in one place to be consumed in another; the capacity of each locality for producing a greater surplus; the natural means of transportation, and their susceptibility for improvement; the hindrances, delays, and losses of life and property during transportation, and the causes of each, would be among the most valuable statistics in this connection. From those it would readily appear where a given amount of expenditure would do the most good.” [Lincoln, A; 1848]