Illegal Immigration? They're building a SUPER HIGHWAY!!!

[Lowprofile]

I Guess its true when they say "Ignorance is Bliss"   

[derailed]

Lowprofile, Im really not trying to argue with you. I agree with you trucks deliver the goods to there final destination but I also think that you highly underestimate the amount of tonnage in freight that trains haul every year. For example an average loaded coal train on the D&H route between Bingampton NY and Mechanicville NY which is 157 mile run can carry approximatly 12 to 14000 tons of coal in about a 5 hour run with a 2 man crew. This country relies on both trucks and the railroad and would not move if one of them were to come to a stop. Theres not enough trucks on the road and nowhere near enough drivers to haul what trains do every day.

[Mike DC]

I've got nothing against the trucking industry.  I just think the trucking industry is being given a disproportionate amount of the workload that should be partly done by rail.  And the airline industry is getting the same thing.

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I live in St. Louis MO.  I travel on interstates 70, 40(64), and 44 all the time.  Every one of them is jammed full of semis going across the country while there are 100-year-old train tracks rusting away all over town.  The state currently wants to upgrade the bridges on hwy 40/64 for the trucking industry, even though it will do nothing to help the congestion for locals and we all want/need local intersections redone a lot worse.

My brother goes between Chicago & STL all the time.  Between the parking/baggage/security at airports, it takes him 6 total hours to FLY between two cities that are only 5-6 hours' DRIVE apart.    And yet he often can't get a decent train trip instead.  A train would be half the money & twice the comfort of flying for the same time invested, but Amtrak sucks.  And Amtrak has been treated so badly that they've publicly  declared that the Federal Gov't is trying to run them out of business, while at the same time the Fed stands on its head to bail out airlines that can't make a profit. 

[Lowprofile]

Derailed, no arguing from me brother, we are just a couple of guys who have a different point of view. 

I agree with you on many points. The problem , as I see it, is that we live in a "I want it right now" society. Thats why there is so much truck traffic these days. There is certain types of freight that are more suited to rail transport, such as coal, chemicals, some lumber/building products, some types of food products......... But the vast majority of Food, medicine, clothing, auto parts, etc.... will always be delievered by truck. Trains will never be able to compete on that level. Many companies operate on a "just in time" schedule, meaning that trucks are loaded at one manufacturing plant, driven x amount of miles by team drivers, and those products are delievered to another plant to continue the manufacturing process, Thus eliminating the overhead of warehousing those products by using the trucks as their rolling warehouse.

The trucking industry & the Railroad work together everyday. I am sure that in the future, there will be more efficient ways to use both modes of transportation.

[Lowprofile]

I've got nothing against the trucking industry.  I just think the trucking industry is being given a disproportionate amount of the workload that should be partly done by rail.  And the airline industry is getting the same thing.

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I live in St. Louis MO.  I travel on interstates 70, 40(64), and 44 all the time.  Every one of them is jammed full of semis going across the country while there are 100-year-old train tracks rusting away all over town.  The state currently wants to upgrade the bridges on hwy 40/64 for the trucking industry, even though it will do nothing to help the congestion for locals and we all want/need local intersections redone a lot worse.

My brother goes between Chicago & STL all the time.  Between the parking/baggage/security at airports, it takes him 6 total hours to FLY between two cities that are only 5-6 hours' DRIVE apart.    And yet he often can't get a decent train trip instead.  A train would be half the money & twice the comfort of flying for the same time invested, but Amtrak sucks.  And Amtrak has been treated so badly that they've publicly  declared that the Federal Gov't is trying to run them out of business, while at the same time the Fed stands on its head to bail out airlines that can't make a profit. 

I agree with you about passenger rail service in this country. It is dismal at best. Europeans seem to love the rail. As a matter of fact, most of the world utilizes passenger rail for most all their transportation needs. We here in the US live in a "Car Society". Everyone wants to drive. Public transportation is so under utilized......and Amtrak is the red headed step-child of the Govt.

As far as truck traffic goes, there are over 50 cars on the road for every class 8 truck in America. Trucks are not the problem......Trucks pay a huge amount of taxes to take care of road improvements. 


BTW, Brian, sorry for the thread hijack.