Login
or
Register
Home
»
Trains Magazine
»
Forums
»
General Discussion
»
Pleasant Prairie coal coming in by barge
Edit post
Edit your reply below.
Post Body
Enter your post below.
As usual, the Bobsey twins spew forth their collective illogic. I will correct. <br /> <br />1. It was greyhounds who first brought up the issue of open access in this case, stating that since PP can haul in coal by truck it *proves* that PP is not captive. Again, the accepted definition (by both the railroads and rail shippers) of a "captive shipper" is one in which said shipper only has physical access to one Class I railroad, or one in which a major supplier only has physical access to one Class I, e.g. somewhere along the line haul there is opportunity for monopolistic rate setting by one or more of the railroads. If the entire line haul is handled under competitive bid by the railroads, there is no captivity. <br /> <br />2. It was assumed by greyhounds and myself that PP only had access to one Class I (UP). Apparently, PP also has a new spur courtesy of CP according to zardoz, so they are only captive in the duopolistic sense. However, for this particular move, it is not clear if either CP and/or UP can have coal transloaded from barge to rail via Jones Island. I would think that if they can load trucks from barge, they should be able to load rail hoppers from barge. In the larger picture, what usually happens when the big boys decline business, someone else simply steps in to take advantage of the niche opportunity. But since those rail lines are not open for such niche players, the default action always ends up on the highways at taxpayer expense. <br /> <br />3. What has so obviously been missed by the con crowd is that under OA, the opportunity arises for someone to use rail in this situation if the other rail service providers decline to bid. If WEPCO put out bids for someone to haul coal from Jones to PP, what would there be to stop an independent rail service provider from handling that move under OA that of course is impossible under CA? I guess we need to keep asking ourselves - is rail really that much more efficient than trucking under most conditions? It's a safe bet that under OA rail's efficiency potential skyrockets, simply due to the constant presence of the potential niche carriers and the innovations they bring with them.
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
Update Reply
Join our Community!
Our community is
FREE
to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Login »
Register »
Search the Community
Newsletter Sign-Up
By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our
privacy policy
More great sites from Kalmbach Media
Terms Of Use
|
Privacy Policy
|
Copyright Policy