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Two things, Tim! First, it's more expensive for a railroad to handle a trailer or container than it is for a trucking company. For instance, railroads need ramps at either end and someone to run them. If the shipment is in containers, then there is the cost of maintaining chassis's. At intermediate points, sometimes it is faster to interchange on the street rather than by steel wheel. In that case you have the cost of the chassis as well as the drayage between the two railroads. The cost of lifts by the ramp cntractor, the equipment such as straddle cranes, the property, etc all add up to costs which eat into profit. <br />Second, $$$ does come into play. It is very easy to price yourself out of business when competing with motor carriers on single or few shipments. Railroads realize their most efficiency from the economy of scale, i.e. the more you ship, the cheaper it gets. Fixed costs are spread over more shipments. <br />So we do maximize our profits, it just has less flexible limits than railcars. <br />gdc
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