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Why do railroads run intermodal so fast?

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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by smalling_60626 (Why is there no smilie for "Search Me!") Maybe faster container ships would be a boon, but maybe not. I've been looking at the annual reports for all kinds of maritime companies: those with a granted franchise that also get into real estate like Alexander & Baldwin; successful foreign companies like Dani***ORM; booming Asian companies like Mitsui O.K., which does containers and 'most everything else; and oil-tanker companies. The consensus seems to be that speed is extremely correlated against cost-efficiency; like railroad Diesel-electrics, it would seem that the turbines driving VLCC's and other huge ships become much less knots-to-whatever efficient when forced to go just a bit faster. While it is true that necessity is the mother of invention, I don't presume that the technology to power much faster transoceanic ships will suddenly pop out of nowhere just because big railways and big shippers would find it more convenient. [:(] And I must acknowledge the invaluable contributions that shipping and logistics professionals have made along these lines; after reading what I wrote above their attitude is probably, "Tell me something I DON'T know!" [8D] [/quote] Containerships may not be all that fast, but they do run as fast as optimal economics allows. (At least they don't spend weeks being shuttled around in a reclassification harbor.[:D]) What the FastShip people are betting on is that if technology allows for faster ships to be successful within a certain cost/benefit pardigm, folks will take advantage of it. What they would pay in higher fees per box might be made up by reduced inventories. If indeed FastShip results in days being taken off the shipping time frame, it could change the entire supply chain dynamic.
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