Rail road

That is the way the industry is headed. They have stated they want to ship as much freight intermodal. Where I used to live in NY, they were opening up a rail yard that had been closed for years. It is supposed to be an intermodal yard. It seems trucking will become more of a regional area rather than nationwide. I'm sure there will still be some nationwide because rail takes longer to get to where they're going, things like refrigerated, and those "HOT" loads will still be nationwide.

 

why wouldnt they it is amazing the amount of weight and product they can move per freight train

 

There is no more being shipped by rail then there was 10 years ago. You only hear about it more today because everyone thinks it is the cool thing to do.... So they toss their name in the hat to attrieve some of that cool publicity.

 

To ship more by rail, you have to lay more rail lines.

I don't think that is going to happen.

Our jobs are secure, since rails are rather limited. They still need trucks to get the product to the destination.

 

Great point, we don't have the infrastructure to ship enough by rail to take a huge chuck of trucking business away.

Of course, many companies will ship by rail if possible, but trucking will always be essential in our time sensitive economy.

Trust me, as a railroader, we don't do anything efficiently.

 

^hey you fit right in with the rest of america lol

 

Cool....Then maybe we won't have so many hoods torn off by their drivers in truckstops!

 

Anything that needs to be shipped in a timely manner won't go by rail. If you want fast service, and don't want to pay for air freight, it will go by truck.

 

As was stated, the infrastructure is not there anymore. Too many rail lines have been left to rot or torn out. There was a time in the early 1900's that there were lines going to virtually every community. Not so anymore.

Take for example the town I live in and the next town over. There used to be rail lines right down to the bay where there were also huge docks and cranes for logging and grain. The town over had a HUGE train trestle that spanned the end of the bay and went to the docks there. Again, for grain and logging mainly. Now we do not have one rail line going into this area. Closest one is over 20 minutes away and is about 6 towns over.

Anyone who thinks rail is going to decimate the trucking industry is an idiot. Lets put the rail line through their yard first. Rail, ships, and trucks need to work as a unit together to be most efficient.

Many items on open decks or reefers cannot be shipped by rail. The time restraint or the size issues will not allow it. Never mind the lack of lines to run on. Heck, you know how trains get new traction motors or axles? They are shipped by truck because it takes too long to get them by rail.