BackshopNot container ships, other than ONE that just started operations. Also, the St Lawrence Seaway and Welland Canal limit salties to 730 feet or so and most are in the 600 foot area. Many seem to be bringing wind turbine components in. Monroe, MI is a major destination of them. I believe that Duluth is, also.
We see a lot of bulk carriers on the St Lawrence. Many are to/from Canadian ports.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
I think this article does a decent job of explaining some of the challenges rail has to overcome to regain or take market share from trucks. For example even when an opportunity arises in a tight truck market for rail to take business from trucks railroads are constrained by the available supply of rail equipment which is difficult to change in the short term.
https://www.transportdive.com/news/trucking-spot-rates-tight-capacity-rail-intermodal/586586/
Schneider still has plenty of teams for time critical loads and for customers that demand it. Jb Hunt also has teams still for the same reason. There's some areas where they serve were intermodal services aren't the greatest.
zugmannDon't think my customers that get paper rolls would be on board with that. That would be a LOT of trucks (and more truck doors) instead of a few TBOXes. My grain customers would probably feel the same way, come to think of it. There is more to RRing than IM service.
If you have a rail siding, and you like your rail siding, you can keep your rail siding.
What I was saying is that going to the expense of building a new rail siding for most customers that don't have one isn't necessary.
BackshopAs long as we still keep importing a lot of our retail goods, there will always be plenty of long railroad hauls. Ships only get goods to the periphery of the country. A
The long hauls from/to the ports aren't going away. That's not the issue with rail market share.
What skews market share dominance to trucking is that most freight hauls are of shorter distances where trucks currently have a cost advantage.
People have complained about low rail market share. Well, come up with a way to be truck competitive between LA and Phoenix, Las Vegas, etc.
tree68 Backshop Ships only get goods to the periphery of the country. Not entirely true. Salty's call on Chicago, I believe...
Backshop Ships only get goods to the periphery of the country.
Not entirely true. Salty's call on Chicago, I believe...
BackshopShips only get goods to the periphery of the country.
tree68 And it's something the trucks don't have to deal with, as such. They already provide door-to-door service. If the railroads are going to pick up market share, they'll have to go after the longer trucking runs. In some ways, that's already happening, as seen by the presence of trailers (and containers) from the major trucking companies on intermodal trains. The question is how much of that exists? I don't have that information. I would opine that the railroads might pick up a percentage point or two, but not much more. Good springboard for discussion.
And it's something the trucks don't have to deal with, as such. They already provide door-to-door service.
If the railroads are going to pick up market share, they'll have to go after the longer trucking runs. In some ways, that's already happening, as seen by the presence of trailers (and containers) from the major trucking companies on intermodal trains.
The question is how much of that exists? I don't have that information. I would opine that the railroads might pick up a percentage point or two, but not much more.
Good springboard for discussion.
As long as we still keep importing a lot of our retail goods, there will always be plenty of long railroad hauls. Ships only get goods to the periphery of the country.
greyhoundsThere is no need to serve the facilities with a rail siding. An intermodal siding fairly close by will do just fine.
Don't think my customers that get paper rolls would be on board with that. That would be a LOT of trucks (and more truck doors) instead of a few TBOXes.
My grain customers would probably feel the same way, come to think of it.
There is more to RRing than IM service.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
Railroads have to deal with the "first mile / last mile" issue. Which is to say aggregation.
And that's the most expensive part.
This explains the proliferation of railroad shortlines. They handle the aggregation, switching the small customers, usually on both ends of the line haul (probably two different shortlines, but I digress). They can then deliver their collection of cars to a Class 1 to haul to where they are going. Odds are there is some enroute sorting/switching to be done, but until the railroads start contracting that out, it's part of doing business.
Actually, the trucking industry does deal with some of that. Major retailers maintain warehouses from which local deliveries originate. A trailer load of name-your-product gets delivered to the warehouse, the product is split into smaller quantities, gets delivered by the local runs, etc.
1) Rail market share
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