The same “open access” nonsense, just packaged a little better.
I wonder if those farmers/ranchers in Minnesota would be upset if I brought some of our Longhorns up there and turned them loose in their back 40?
I mean, under this type of argument, it should be a great way to create competition, thus benefiting everyone, right?
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jrbernier Well - Lets look at that. The 'competition' that those railroads have is out on the highway, paid for with our tax dollars! When he talks about the local economy, most of the shipped product is usually grain, and around here much of it is trucked to river ports like Winona, La Crosse, & Marquette. It is then loaded on barges and sent to the gulf for export shipment. But that is only small part of the total corn shipment - The rest goes via truck for livestock feed or to the ethanol plant. The 'haul' to the river trans-load ports is too short to compete and make money on. Now if you are 200+ miles from the trans-load, then rail transport works. At least the railroad does get to haul the ethanol and DDG(I can just see the howling if there were non-stop tanker trucks of ethanol going through all of our towns). The fact is that Franken is just another celebrity turned politician looking for something to get air time about. First we had wrestler Jesse Ventura,as Governor - Now Comic Al Franken as Senator. I liked them both better on TV - I could just turn off the TV and go to bed! Jim
Well - Lets look at that. The 'competition' that those railroads have is out on the highway, paid for with our tax dollars! When he talks about the local economy, most of the shipped product is usually grain, and around here much of it is trucked to river ports like Winona, La Crosse, & Marquette. It is then loaded on barges and sent to the gulf for export shipment. But that is only small part of the total corn shipment - The rest goes via truck for livestock feed or to the ethanol plant. The 'haul' to the river trans-load ports is too short to compete and make money on. Now if you are 200+ miles from the trans-load, then rail transport works.
At least the railroad does get to haul the ethanol and DDG(I can just see the howling if there were non-stop tanker trucks of ethanol going through all of our towns).
The fact is that Franken is just another celebrity turned politician looking for something to get air time about. First we had wrestler Jesse Ventura,as Governor - Now Comic Al Franken as Senator. I liked them both better on TV - I could just turn off the TV and go to bed!
Jim
I used to find Al Franken very amusing, but he began to lose me when he did an SNL comedy sketch (with partner Tom Davis) making fun of a victim of brain cancer.
Hilarious, Al, just hilarious.
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Here is the point he makes in his letter. Whether or not it is a problem I'll leave up to you. From my vantage point (northern New Jersey) I have little insight into the issue.
"Recent analysis indicates that 78% of the 28,000 “stations” in the continental United States where a major freight railroad picks up or delivers freight are served by a single railroad. Of the remaining 22% of rail stations that are nominally served by a second railroad, a significant number are served by a short line or regional rail carrier that is dominated by the major railroad serving the location. This lack of competition in our national freight rail transportation system and the resulting railroad monopoly power over a significant portion of annual railroad freight movement create significant problems for our state and national economies."
Does Franken have a point, or is he living in the 1910's instead of the 2010's?
http://hometownsource.com/2013/02/25/sen-franken-continues-fight-to-protect-minnesota-farmers-business-from-rail-monopolies/
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