This article reviews how passive data collection efforts can be transformed to meet the needs of freight planners and researchers. Recent changes in the production of goods, such as just-in-time manufacturing and synchronized supply chains, as well as changes in the distribution of goods have put pressure on transportation systems, suggesting the need to develop a plan for future freight data collection based on an architecture or framework. A critical element in this new vision for data collection is the development of freight informatics. Freight informatics is defined as intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and traffic monitoring data on flows by mode, location, routing and time of day. By using archived ITS data and geographic information technology mapping strategies, many questions regarding freight movements can be answered. Current work on roadside freight surveys and data generated for homeland security may make it possible to fuse data elements regarding commodities at the corridor level as a post-processing practice. By using passive data effectively, new data need only be collected to fill in missing pieces. Examples of how several states have been proactive in using archived data are provided.