Paper company turns to rail, lightens I-64 truck traffic

Discussion in 'Truckers News' started by Cybergal, Dec 10, 2007.

  1. 25(2)+2

    25(2)+2 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

    18,675
    43,083
    Sep 18, 2006
    the road less travelled
    0
    Trucks use X amount of fuel per ton mile, trains use .1X,water transport uses .01X, and I haven't seen how much energy it takes to move freight by pipeline, but I'd guess another factor of 10 less for gases and liquids.

    I used to haul hot asphalt cement from terminals to plants and from terminal to terminal, along the Mississippi River shipments are made by barge, rail, and truck. Those plants also confirmed that relationship for me. So far there are no hot pipelines across the country, only liquids not needing to be heated and gases are transferred by pipeline.

    Where the rails are gone, I don't look for their return, I do look for most new industry to be located in areas with rail access, and if that is enough of an advantage, industry will be forced out of business wherever it can't remain competitive.This will take years. I have also talked to drivers from companies that do lots of Inter modal, those drivers are seeing more dedicated short hauls from railway yards to customers and back. That may be the future of some trucking, but certainly not all. I don't foresee a time when livestock or perishables will rely on rail transit. I also don't see high value cargo being consigned to rail, time is money in these instances and rail doesn't save enough fuel to justify the extra time it takes.

    You can also take into account how much the infrastructure costs to develop and maintain, there are no private vehicles traversing railways, so that cost has to be attributed entirely to the users of the railway, if the government steps in and helps to rebuild large portions of rail to save industry in an under served area, that will bring new economics into play.

    Water transport is also being supported much as highways are by government bodies building and maintaining waterways.
     
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. Tip

    Tip Tipster

    2,294
    290
    Mar 18, 2006
    ON STRIKE
    0
    Scarecrow, I know you're right, but only if I make certain assumptions. That's where you and I diverge. Let's take a look at how you and I see the world:

    You...see the world as a series of random market-system events. The sum of these market forces becomes 'reality'. This reality is shaped by the decisions of about 100 million Homer Simpsons.

    I...see the world as a series of intricately planned moves by a group of elites working behind the scenes. Nothing is entrusted to even 1 Homer Simpson, as the stakes are far too high in a 12-trillion-dollar economy that is backed with nuclear weapons. Homer can choose a dog catcher, but that is the limit of his voting power.

    My view explains what really happens. Homer Simpson's choices aren't really choices, as Homer is herded to those choices. The choices that really matter are left to the elites. And nuclear weapons? Homer can't even run a nuclear plant without mucking up.

    Homer Simpson is really a representation of the average American male, like it or not. Thankfully, he doesn't have a say in whether trucks stay or go. The elites will decide the fate of the rigs.
     
  4. Burky

    Burky Road Train Member

    Just for the record, now that you have revealed the existence of this elite group of folks running everything and pulling the strings of all mankind, could you be so kind as to reveal a few of the names. Surely, someone with your unequalled powers of observation of this group of elites would know precisely who they are and where they operate from. The Hall of Justice maybe, The Batcave possibly, Dr No's Crab Key, or perhaps The Fortress of Solitude?
     
  5. Tip

    Tip Tipster

    2,294
    290
    Mar 18, 2006
    ON STRIKE
    0
    Substitute the name 'Burky' for Homer Simpson in my above post and it works perfectly. Flour-wagon drivers are gonna make critical decisons that affect me? No.
     
  6. Burky

    Burky Road Train Member

    Looking through this monthy's issue of "Trains" magazine, I find that the cover story is entitled "What Does It Cost?", and it goes into great detail at telling the cost of equipment for running a railroad.

    115 pound rail (Which means it weighs 115 pounds per linear foot) costs $960 per ton, which equates to 37 dollars per track foot. Labor to install the rail adds another 15 dollars per foot to the cost. If the rail is on a curve, it is usually a head hardened 141 pound rail, and you can add about an extra 80 dollars for hardening to the per ton price.

    Wooden ties cost 35 dollars each, and have an installation cost of $16 per tie. For concrete ties, double the cost of purchase, though installation costs about the same.

    Rock ballast costs 7 dollars per ton, and use the formula of 800 tons per mile to raise the track 2 inches.

    Ground level road crossings average out to about 370,000 each. If you have to put a road on an overpass, the cost can vary with the number of lanes, but from 10 to 30 million dollars will buy one road crossing.

    By the way, once a railroad files to abandon a specific route, they usually lose the ight of way they previously held for the land beneath it. Most older rail lines went on a right of way principle that only applied as long as the line stayed active. There have been court cases where the railroads wanted to reopen a long closed branch line, and the legal rights to the property had passed to the living relatives of the property owners at the time the railroad initially built the line.
     
  7. Burky

    Burky Road Train Member

    Which does not answer the question posed as to the identities of the "Elites" that only you seem to be aware of. You're avoiding the question, but based on your past history of posts involving actual facts and proof, I guess I should not be surprised. Hard to be a conspiracy theorist when people ask for facts to back up your claims. I have nothing but the utmost sympathy for you.
     
  8. Tip

    Tip Tipster

    2,294
    290
    Mar 18, 2006
    ON STRIKE
    0
    Where is the steel coming from? Pittsburgh? Shanghai? That will affect your figures.

    Railroad ties made where? Portland, Oregon or Lake Baikal, Siberia?

    Concrete ties made where? US, Mexico, Peru...?

    I thought you were above believing what you read in a biased magazine.

    All these figures you present mean nothing as is. Find out where it's all coming from and revise, revise, revise.
     
  9. bucksandducks

    bucksandducks Medium Load Member

    656
    538
    Mar 29, 2007
    WI
    0
    This is hilarious and quite possibly very true.
    Trucks, 1000 miles or less.
    Trains, 2,000-3,000 miles.
    Some stuff can go on trains, some can't.
     
  10. Burky

    Burky Road Train Member

    Well, the rail comes from Rocky Mountain Steel Mills of Colorado or from Mittal Steel of Steelton Pa, since they are the only suppliers of rail in the country at this time. There is one other company hoping to join the fray, Steel Dynamics of Columbus City In, but as of yet they are not in production. If you drive down US 30, you can see the part of the plant where they have built the facilities for handling the long continuous strings of rail.

    As for rail coming in from overseas, since most of the railroads buy rail in 1/4 mile long welded strings, not much comes from overseas. Kind of hard to handle that length of a piece of steel, much less stow it on a ship for transport. In fact, there are very few docks commercially that could handle a ship well over a 1/4 mile long, and to have an uninterrupted cargo hold that would haul those pieces of rail would be quite a piece of seagoing engineering.

    But, I suppose, one of the "Elites" could make the rail come in from overseas if it were really part of their master plan. Could you give us a name or two, while you are out there in electron land, typing away???
     
  11. Roadmedic

    Roadmedic Road Train Member

    18,951
    8,978
    Apr 4, 2007
    0
    I am not doubting you Burky.

    But I have seen trucks carrying rails to the work area. These are not 1/4 mile long. They are long though.

    Do they use shorter rails for repairs?
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.