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RR's are full - then let truckers pull doubles!

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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by dblstack So far this year, the RR's have enjoyed tremendous volumes to the point of service drastically suffering on several of the class 1's, which the RR openly attributes to being "full." As a result of being full, the RR's have puffed up and have been very open in the trade press about taking rates up since they can be selective about the freight they move from this wealth of available freight. In some cases the RR has walked away from significant business (ie. Union Pacific - UPS freight) because some trains no longer fit their network... again, because they're full. RR's are hoping that this surge of freight will boost their fortunes to the point that they are the darlings of Wall Street. They're intentionally delaying capacity additions (ie. building more track) to capitalize on the traffic boom. Union Pacific was recently cited in the Wall St. Journal as a deterent to economic growth because they aren't able to deliver freight at the rate that the shipping market demands. We've also read a great deal about the truck driver shortage in the U.S. and how the RR's also attribute their intermodal volume increase, in part to that situation. There is a solution and railroaders big and small will gasp and blanch at the thought of it, but if the RR's can't handle the volume that is there and if there aren't enough drivers to handle the freight pulling single trailers, then why not let truckers pull double trailers (ie. double 48's or double 53's?) I'm as "pro-railroad" as anyone that you will find, but there is an economic and logistical reality of getting this freight moved. I know that there is a whole bleeding heart contingent that will cry that its unsafe to pull these longer combination vehicles, which is why you would restrict them to intercity moves on the interstate system with very specific restrictions to keep them off of local streets and state highways. (ie. they can operate on interstate highways but must be connected and disconnected within 1 mile of the interstate highway. Some Western states allow double 45's and 48's and I've driven among them many times with no concern whatsoever. Again, there would be a cry and hue over "its too dangerous" but that's protectionism under a veiled wrapper. If the RR's can't do it... and they've publicly said that they can't, let someone else who can. [/quote]I was in the not so distant past a part of a state DOT (NCDOT) that built and maintained the part of the infrastructure known as public bridges and highways. What you are asking for is, in my opinion, the complete final destruction of any asphalt road in the U.S. As I mentioned in the thread on the future of railroading, One LEGALLY loaded Simi-tractortrailer combination does more damage in one pass to the road than do 900 automobiles (Proctor Method of Asphalt testing by AASHTO specs). Your suggestion would not double the problem but probably square the damage done to the PUBLIC roadways. When this is considered together with the crisis in the tax base of many states which are already stressed to the max and that are very dependant in many ways on gasoline taxes to service the PUBIC roadways. This would have the effect of even higher gas taxes (read increased subsidy) that you and me and a lot of other folks pay just to cover the cost of substructure repair and resurfacing. When this is compared to a PRIVATE company that has a measure of both increased effiencey and load factor far above that of most any other form of surface transportation (READ RAILROAD). The economics of the steel on steel technology is obvious especially to the members of this forum. HOWEVER, if you have quantified and qualified information to the contrary[:-^] many of us would like to hear about this. I know I would.
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