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[quote]QUOTE: Since there is no, nor is it likely any rail access to Deadwood will come to fruition, it is likely that coal will continue to move by truck from Gillette to Deadwood, assuming that power plant continues operation. It is a cost to transload anything from rail car to truck, so trucking will still be the lowest cost option (as well as the shortest mileage for this particular corridor).[/quote] If you're referring to the Kirkwood Power Plant (behind the Homestake Mine at Lead,) its been out of service for over 10 yrs and is largely dismantled. I'd disagree strongly that trucks are a mode of last resort. Every bit of freight has a mode of choice which is based largely on the inventory value of that product. If the inventory value is high, you use a fast, but more costly service product (i.e. air freight) because the cost of stockpiling the product is greater than the cost of transportation via air. Conversely, if you're moving coal, which has a very low relative inventory cost, you move it the cheapest way possible and stockpile what you need to. Barges fit a similar low value, bulk commodity model. Freight that moves via truck falls in between those two points in the spectrum. (i.e. Air, Truck, Rail, Barge). Its the same reason that UPS offers Next Day, 2nd Day, Ground, etc. Different items that need to be shipped have different needs (hey, I should copyright that saying.) Its a big continuum and the shipper makes trade-offs between speed, cost and reliability based on the nature of the product. There is no simple default answer for all products (i.e. your contention that trucks are the mode of last resort.) By the way - I make my living in providing the customer mode options to fit their need. Oh, and we do move beer TO Milwaukee - and its for a company that also makes beer in Milwaukee. They fill one kind of container at a Southern brewery and a different kind of container in Milwaukee. Some southern beer comes north and some northern beer goes south... and all it right in the world.
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