Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by gabe Thanks for the advice Dave, But in all honesty, I gave up on the idea a long time ago it was a sophmoric/quixotic idea and Mark's criticisms articulated ideas that let me to calling the idea defunct. The only reason I posted it was, we haven't seemed to have a good intermodal conversation as of late and seeing all those trucks blocking the highways leads me to think we need to start looking for better alternatives. Thanks again though, Gabe [/quote] Gabe, I wouldn't necessarily give up on the idea per se, but ask yourself if it can evolve into something that may have merit in the current supply chain? I do believe Mark's criticisms have validity, but that doesn't necessarily rule it out entirely. What you have touched upon is the niche potential in the shorthaul intermodal lanes, currently dominated entirely by trucks. That doesn't mean that a shortline parallel to the truck lanes cannot compete for intermodal traffic between the factory and the intermodal terminal. A while back the Southern railroad incorporated the idea of direct factory loading of containers on flatcars. They put two 20' containers on a 60' flatcar, container doors facing into the center of the car, and using the middle part of the car as the loading platform. They were able to compete on a price basis with trucks, until the service was discontinued when the Norfolk & Western merger was initiated. I came up with an idea of doing the same thing, but using the base frame of an articulated auto carrier as an articulated flatcar of sufficient length to allow two 40' + containers to be loaded simultaneously at a typical boxcar loading dock. A shortline could offer a price advantage over truckers using this concept, assuming the shortline had access to the Class I intermodal terminal where the containers would be transfered to a standard double stack well car from the flatcar by the top lift tractors. It also assumed that time constraints were not an issue. The concept would keep trucks off congested city streets and suberban highways from point of origin to the intermodal terminal. It could be used for domestic containers as well, and offers the possibility of "overloading" a container by weight if shipped from a state with miminal highway weight limits to a state with maximum highway weight limits. What I'm trying to say is don't discount innovations in potential niche markets even if the initial idea comes to a dead end. You just need to allow ideas to adapt and evolve until you come across a viable niche.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag