CDOT's Freight Office Receives the 2022 State Government Experience (GovX) Award! 

By Ginger Kloska, Process Improvement & Change Management Intern

November 14, 2022

One of the Colorado Department of Transportation’s (CDOT’s) biggest responsibilities is ensuring that the State’s multimodal transportation system continues to be capable of moving goods and services across the state and to destinations across the country. Our Freight Office, now a part of the Multimodal Planning Division, does not take this responsibility lightly, specifically in regards to freight infrastructure and technology. In 2016 alone, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) estimated that there were over 420 million tons of products valued at over $341 billion moved through Colorado. That’s nearly 75 pounds for each Coloradan every day. 

In the spirit of continuous improvement, CDOT’s Freight Office wanted to develop an intuitive and easy way for any user to access Colorado’s freight information in real time. After partnering with ESRI, a geographical information systems company, they were able to create a database and a web-based mapping system to do just that. This system has seven interactive maps for freight transporters to utilize: a freight user and restriction map, oversize/overweight map, bridge weight limit map, vertical clearances map, pilot escort map, hazardous and nuclear routing map, and Longer Vehicle Combination (LVS) map. Each map provides instructions on how to use it, including how to turn on and off layers, adding geographic context, and changing the extent filters. These maps allow anyone to access a large database with critical information about freight movement and restrictions in Colorado. The team even went the extra mile by voluntarily going through GIS (Geographic Information System) Mapping training to be able to continuously monitor and update the data to ensure the system continues to serve the people of Colorado.

The importance of an efficient, effective, and safe freight transportation system became even more pronounced during the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. Goods that were needed to save lives and keep Colorado going depended on CDOT’s freight system and technology more than ever. CDOT’s Freight Office continued to step up to the challenge by setting up daily check-in calls with freight partners to discuss various needs and concerns of the drivers keeping our communities supplied. In addition, they frequently coordinated with the Governor’s Office to collaborate on needed Executive orders to support those partners and ensure that Colorado was continuing to align with federal exemption and regulation changes happening in real time.