Transport

Freight Safe

DoT’s Master Plan

With increasing demand for the movement of goods through Abu Dhabi, the Department of Transport has set forth a plan to strategically address the safety and efficiency needs of the local freight industry while ensuring the sector's regional and global competitiveness.

In the first month of 2014, the Department of Transport (DoT) released its Multi-Modal Freight Master Plan (FMP) for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi: Freight 2030. The plan’s inception came in response to increased freight activity occurring in the Emirate across the road, rail, air, and sea domains of the transport and logistics sector, along with expected continued activity in light of several ongoing infrastructure developments in Abu Dhabi’s transportation sector. Following along the same lines of the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 and the Surface Transport Master Plan, Freight 2030 was designed with both current realities and future growth of freight activity in mind. The plan is injecting new standards of safety and efficiency into the national freight transportation industry; a vital sector in the local economy poised for major growth in the decades ahead.

Abu Dhabi’s freight transport industry contributes a significant amount to the capital’s economic diversification goals and to its overall GDP, with the Etihad Rail network alone expected to contribute a $953 million increase in GDP by 2030. Acknowledging the vital importance of the freight sector to the economy, the DoT has developed new laws, regulations, and standards based on industry needs by reaching out to freight operators and other major industry stakeholders in early 2015 for their input on areas in need of enhanced regulation in the industry. The result is a dynamic plan that sets the stage for a more transparent regulatory environment and a greater level of communication between the government and private sectors in the freight industry. As Freight 2030 begins to govern Abu Dhabi’s freight sector, operations within this area are expected to improve and reach international standards in safety where they currently fall short. The DoT’s Freight 2030 Plan will help the private sector to conduct their freight businesses and operations with improved safety checks and more efficient integration of regulations between transport modes, thus creating a more effective and more resilient supply chain for businesses utilizing Abu Dhabi’s multi-modal freight transport system, an industry from which Abu Dhabi has a lot to gain as it realizes its economic development goals for the future. As investments in the development of Abu Dhabi’s multi-modal transportation infrastructure continues, the Emirate is set to benefit a great deal from the enhanced safety and efficiency the DoT is promoting in the local freight industry.