Two major freight disruptions in recent years have placed the resilience of the U.S. multimodal freight system under sustained official scrutiny, exposing both the interconnected fragility of modern supply chains and the value of having a federal office capable of coordinating cross-modal responses in real time. On March 26, 2024, a cargo ship departing the Port of Baltimore struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, triggering its collapse and closing a major interstate highway corridor through the city.