Hi,

I hope you don't mind an economic question:

I was curious how freight is usually carried over long distances. When a load has to go from coast to coast, for instance, does it usually go all the way by truck, or is it usually driven to the closest rail terminal, to be offloaded onto a truck at the rail terminal on the other end? Does it depend on distance, and if so, how long a distance must a load usually go before it sees a segment of its journey on rail?

Then when something is shipped in or out of the country, I realize it usually goes by sea. But where is the handoff? Let's say a shipment is headed from China to the American East Coast. How does it usually get there? Does it usually go by ship through the Panama Canal and around to the East Coast, bypassing trucking and rail, or does it usually get offloaded in California and shipped via ground to the East Coast?

Finally, with energy getting so pricey, do you see the trucking industry being down-sized in preference to other less energy-costly modes of transportation, like rail? What's on the horizon for truckers?

Thanks for your time!

At no point in time will a shipment escape being on a truck at some point. but cross country shipments are usually shipped acording to time constraints. If time is not a factor it will go by rail. If it has to be there on a certian time it will usually be by truck. There are other factors involved. but thats the basics. have a good day and stay safe!!!

There are many types of transporting goods. Pipeline and barges are about the least expensive on a per ton mile. Then ships, trains, trucks, and air. All have their benefits and limitations. You wouldn't want to put a crate of Rolex or Breitling Swiss watches on a train or OTR truck. Price of product makes air attractive. Also security and speed of transit. Trucks offer the most versatile mode as they can go most places. Have always been fairly quick and reliable mode, although trains are making huge push to grab as much long haul truck business as possible. They are building imtermodal facilities all across the US to handle this. Then relatively cheap labor {drivers} and equipment can shuttle to final destination. Look for more and more of these in major population centers.
Most Chinese freight comes to W coast and then goes by train or truck.China controls the Panama Canal now thanks to Pres Jimma Carter. They are about to start widening projects so huge container ships can go directly to E coast. Also Mexico is planning huge W coast Port. This would take many union longshoreman jobs away and give them to cheaper Mex labor.
Hard to answer all your question. Mode to use is a combination of size, weight, value, and urgency of the commodity you need moved. Hope this helped you. I know others here can give you more specific answers if you need them for a certain product.

Goto Google type in maersk lines, then go to home page, on left click on general business term, from there click on [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. ... Read that and iy should give you some answers.. can't post link cause it would be advertising..

Basically what it comes down to is they use any method possible.. sometimes they even lose money on the route (not often) but they reserve the right to do it anyway they want in most cases..

through us and they united cariers of america.

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Thanks, guys! That's a lot of good and useful information!

The basic reason for my questions is that I'm trying to figure out what the future is of trucking vs. rail transport (which is of course more fuel efficient). In our society, we want things delivered yesterday, and if that's not possible, then we want it within a few days. However, with fuel costs going up, I'm wondering how long we're going to be willing to pay up for fast shipping. For instance, I just sent a package via FedEx to Ohio. It cost me almost $20, and it wasn't all that big or heavy. Wow! If slow shipment for $10 had been an option, I might have taken it. Here in Virginia, we're seeing the construction and expansion of the intermodal facilities you mention, and I'm also aware of a lot of expansion at Rickenbacher in Columbus, OH.

Of course we're in an economic slump right now, and the talking heads seem to think that business is going to improve for you truckers. JB Hunt is considered an attractive investment right now, along with railroads and cargo ships. JBHT, in particular, has been on a tear lately. But being the cautious sort that I am, I'm thinking of investing in the relative strength of rail vs. trucking -- basically that I think rail may grab market share from trucking and will increase faster/more. Based on this hunch, I can buy stock in, say, Burlington Northern, and I can "short" stock (sell stock that I borrow, betting that it will go down, so that I can replace it later for less money) in, say, JB Hunt. Or an even better play might be to short stock in some truck manufacturer, like Paccar (Peterbilt, Kenworth, DAF), on the idea that orders for new trucks will be on the decline. (I'm not saying these are bad trucks. Rather, it's the only tmajor truck manufacturer I would be able to short.)

Again, I think business will be good for trucking, but I'm simply being a veeeery cautious investor right now. I'm willing to take a bit of a loss on the trucking bet if it means that I won't get boiled alive from a huge economic downturn or a mega-spike in oil prices (either of which would return money on the short position against trucking). I know that sounds weird and round-about, but it's a time-honored strategy for reducing risk.

Right now, JB Hunt looks pretty strong -- perhaps too strong, and poised for a slight decline in the stock. Any opinions where the weakest part of the trucking industry might be? Truck sales? Truck leasing? Long-haul transport services? Any booms that may have had their day and may be headed for a temporary bust?

I really do appreciate your help. Usually the best information comes directly from the folks in the field. All sorts of Wall Street analysts have all kinds of opinions on trucking, but the truckers probably know the industry best.

I would guess that the biggest area of trucking growth will be with those operations that offer "in house" inter-modal transport. JB for instance is well integrated with rail transport, the equipment and experience are already there. There are others of course. Rail is going to get bigger but still suffers from lack of TLC. There is a lot of track out there that has to be rejuvenated or reinstalled. Periphery industries may be something to look into. General Electric ought to have a dandy year. Trailer sales will likely go up or at least maintain a level better than truck sales which are bound to go down. If I were going to invest in a truck stock that I expected to make a buck it would be Volvo truck/engine and Detroit Diesel. Volvo being a European company has a jump start in efficiency and "green" issues. Detroit Diesel is looking like a good option for US born trucks with efficiency and they are likely to enjoy some increase in other industrial engine sales such as marine motors.

Just thinking out loud so to speak, hope some of it makes sense.

__________________
Once I was young,
And went alone,
And wandering lost my way.

When a friend I found I felt me rich;
Man is cheered by man.

The Poetic Edda
circa 950 AD

From the AP

"CHICAGO - Railway executive Matthew Rose stood before fellow industry leaders, pointing to a map meant to tell the future of the U.S. rail freight network. It was drenched in red - east to west, north to south.
The blotches illustrated areas where, by 2035, traffic jams could be so severe trains would grind to a halt for days with nowhere to go.
"For those of you who've ever seen a good rail meltdown, this is what it looks like," Rose, CEO of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., said as the crowded hall shifted uncomfortably in their chairs. "It's literally chaos in the supply chain."" Continued.

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We will see things leading up to that far sooner than the next 25 years, any interruption due to accident would spell disaster in those heavily loaded rail corridors.



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"Shippers increasingly are switching international intermodal from the rails to an all-water routing through the Panama Canal. As recently as two years ago, transcontinental intermodal shipments represented 13% of total rail/truck volume. That now has dropped to 10% because of the increased use of the Panama Canal." (Transport Topics page 3, 5/19/2008.

When deciding which railroad to invest in, consider Prince Rupert. Canadian National Railway will pay half the cost of converting the bulk grain and coal exporting port in Prince Rupert, British Columbia into a container port.
Located 479 miles north of Vancouver, Prince Rupert is the nearest North American port to major Asian ports by 30 sailing hours.
Prince Rupert has the most direct rail line to Chicago with the gentlest grade of any rail line going through the Rocky Mountains.
Prince Rupert is 711 highway miles closer to Chicago than Los Angeles or Long Beach.
Prince Rupert has the deepest natural harbor in North America.
When you consider the alternatives such as building a new port from scratch in Baja, Calif., and blasting railroad lines through the mountains to get to it, Prince Rupert makes sense.

When considering the future mix of modes due to changing fuel costs, do not forget the role of warehousing in the total logistics picture. Fuel costs will change the location of warehousing and the duration of its use, with trucks still making the final on-time delivery.

The following from my files is outdated, but you get the idea.
Intermodal rail enjoyed explosive growth through much of the 1990s, but the dawning of the new millennium brings with it questions about its future.
The truckload carriers have raised the bar. They have gone from JIT - Just In Time, to XOT - Exactly On Time.
Intermodal's appeal is its low cost. Shippers are under tremendous pressure to take cost out of the supply chain. Having lower linehaul costs does nothing to reduce inventory carrying costs. This is where rails are lacking.
On a haul of 735 miles and a truckload average price of $1.05 a mile, a railroad would charge $100 less, but take a day longer.
To compete with trucks, railroads must guarantee a record of 97% on-time deliveries -- and they can't. The truckload carriers are still taking market share.
Norfolk Southern and CSX have geography and infrastructure that make it difficult for rail to equal truck service. NS routes average 18% longer than corresponding highways. Also, operations are slowed by the need to meet and pass slower trains on an essentially single-track system.