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2006 - The Year of Re-Regulation of Railroads?

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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by JOdom If the utilities think they are being ripped off so badly, let them buy DM&E and pay to extend and rebuild the railroad so it can haul PRB coal. They might find out railroad rates aren't so high after all. When the big auto companies and other large Detroit businesses got tired enough of being ripped off by Northworst Airlines for flights out of Detroit, the businesses got together and started their own airline, to fly where their people needed to go, at prices that weren't highway robbery. It worked very nicely. I'd like to see the utilities try something similar. However, here's the reaction you would get if you proposed this idea to the utilities: What? Invest large quantities of REAL MONEY? No, no, much easier and cheaper to get the gov't to strongarm the railroads into lowering their rates to a level the we (the utilities) deem proper. [/quote] Utilities are regulated. They cannot just "buy" any railroad. Indeed, they are not in the business of running railroads, but I am sure if given the chance they could do a much better job of getting coal from mine to power plant in an expedient fashion than the current Class I oligarchy. How? Easy answer - the utilities would do a better job of getting coal delivered because their income is derived from producing and selling power. The railroads are not in the business of producing and selling power, so naturally they are not as judiscious about such matters. As long as those Chinese imports keep coming in, they are sated for the most part, even if it is a false sense of satedness. Oh, and BTW, the rate debate is only part of the picture. The bigger worry is the inability of the railroads to deliver the coal orders in a timely fashion. That situation is going to get worse, much worse in 2006 and beyond. And here all this time the AAR was telling us JIT is modus operadi for the railroads. What a joke!
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