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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=verdana,geneva>Referring back to the blog piece linked to the locked thread entitled, “What Changes Must Be Made In The Trucking Industry?”, I have some ideas that pertain to the relationship between railroading and trucking.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I brought this up in the locked thread, but the thread was locked before these ideas could be explored.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I know that many in the trucking industry are passionate about being squeezed by costs and regulations.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>If they are passionate about what is happening now, I cannot imagine how they are going to feel as this new pro-rail, anti-truck transportation agenda moves forward as public policy as the FRA alludes to in their new mission statement.</FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"><FONT face=verdana,geneva> </FONT></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=verdana,geneva>In reading the abovementioned blog piece, I must say the first writer has sure put some creative juice into crafting his message to hit all the buttons.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But his vengeance is understandable considering that he is pushing back against this emerging societal message that rail is the Primadonna of “green” transportation, and that trucking should take a back seat and just move freight from the shipper to the nearest railhead, and vice versa.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></P><FONT face=verdana,geneva> <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></FONT> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=verdana,geneva>From sources including the FRA, the <I>Trains</I> article, <I>WIRED UP</I>, and think tanks cited within that article, I keep hearing the message that “we” need to get trucks off the highways and shift their freight to rail so “we” can save fuel.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The objective of getting as much as 80% of trucks off the roads has been often cited.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Nobody seems to be asking why shippers are using trucks instead of rail.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And nobody seems to be concerned about how the truckers are going to survive if 80% of their trucks are removed from the roads.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></P><FONT face=verdana,geneva> <o:p></o:p></FONT> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=verdana,geneva>Railroads and trucking are cooperative partners in the supply chain, but they also compete in certain areas of that chain.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>There are places where rail can offer the lowest rate, but trucks can provide higher speed.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Some businesses choose the higher speed over the lower rate simply due to the economics of their business.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Yet the higher speed trucking might use more fuel than the lower rate rail alternative.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Should “we” as a society, who have a collective interest in conserving fuel, step in through congress, and have them force shippers to use the shipping option that uses the least amount of fuel, no matter how fast or slow it is?</FONT></P><FONT face=verdana,geneva> <o:p></o:p></FONT> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=verdana,geneva><FONT size=5>Or</FONT>—maybe “we” don’t have to <U>force</U> the shippers to switch from trucking to rail.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Maybe instead, “we” can revise railroad infrastructure to improve service so much that most of the shippers who presently opt for truck will opt for rail instead.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But whether shippers are forced to switch from truck to rail, or whether they are incentivized to do so by rail improvement, trucking loses a lot of business in the deal.</FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><FONT face=verdana,geneva><FONT size=2></FONT></FONT></SPAN> </P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><FONT face=verdana,geneva><FONT size=2>It is still an open question of what will need to happen to trucking in the rail terminal-to-shipper delivery / pickup business.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I believe that this component of the transportation would need to be as revolutionized as the rail component, and terminal component.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>All three components will have to be dramatically speeded up in order to get the service to exceed the all truck long hauls that are preferred over rail alternatives today.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In the new system, somehow the incoming loads have got to be gotten off of the train instantaneously, and over to the customer’s dock just as fast as the wheels can turn.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Perhaps a whole new form of light rail infrastructure will replace trucking for the customer-to-railhead trip.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
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