Looks like you've got a good start there - get cracking!
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Darn right Lens Cap, get goin'!
And Tree and me aren't trying to be wise guys either! There's no reason you can't submit an article to "Trains" yourself.
LensCapOnstart beating trains in delivery time.
Russell
· Overdrive
· Road King
· Truckers Connection for Drivers and Owner-Operators
· Truckers News
· 10-4
JPS1 Here is a list of five magazines devoted to trucking. If nothing else the covers are pretty neat. And I suspect they have a number of good articles. · Overdrive · Road King · Truckers Connection for Drivers and Owner-Operators · Truckers News · 10-4 Here is a link to the American Trucking Association webpage, which has a treasure trove of information regarding trucking. https://www.trucking.org/ Trains should stick to its knitting. It is a magazine about railroads. Just staying abreast of all the goings on in the railroad business – past and present – is a big challenge.
+1
JPS1Trains should stick to its knitting. It is a magazine about railroads. Just staying abreast of all the goings on in the railroad business – past and present – is a big challenge.
In staying abreast of the railroad business one also needs to stay abreast of what is taking place in the modes that railroads compete against for business. You can't do one without doing the other.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
And perhaps less well known or acknowledged, how the two modes work well together. We aren't always at each others' throats.. far from it. The "us verses them" mentality was largely a byproduct of overly restrictive and outdated economic regulation that for a long time favored trucking over rail. Had deregulation happened in 1940 instead of 1980 the railroads likely would have been able to keep up with the times and right size themselves to avoid the mess they ended up in by 1970. Eventually we're going to get to where we're all TRANSPORTATION companies.. not truckers or railroaders. And then, finally, carriers will utilize whatever tools are best to get a particular job done.. whether that's a boxcar, a container, an envelope, or a combination thereof. We'll get there.
BaltACD JPS1 Trains should stick to its knitting. It is a magazine about railroads. Just staying abreast of all the goings on in the railroad business – past and present – is a big challenge. In staying abreast of the railroad business one also needs to stay abreast of what is taking place in the modes that railroads compete against for business. You can't do one without doing the other.
True for people still seriously engaged in the business. Most of the people that like Trains don't fit that category!
If a reader wants a superficial comparision of rail vs. trucking, this may be the place to get it. But if h/she wants to do a deep dive into the data, this is not the place to get an indepth understanding of the trucking industry.
Here is a good video on trucks behaving badly.........last car on the train.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sVbCRLEZCE
JPS1 BaltACD JPS1 Trains should stick to its knitting. It is a magazine about railroads. Just staying abreast of all the goings on in the railroad business – past and present – is a big challenge. In staying abreast of the railroad business one also needs to stay abreast of what is taking place in the modes that railroads compete against for business. You can't do one without doing the other. True for people still seriously engaged in the business. Most of the people that like Trains don't fit that category! If a reader wants a superficial comparision of rail vs. trucking, this may be the place to get it. But if h/she wants to do a deep dive into the data, this is not the place to get an indepth understanding of the trucking industry.
Without the business of hauling freight and doing so with modicum of profit - railroads don't long exist for the bright paint schemes and their 'funny' equipment.
If you want to continue being a 'railfan' you also need to be knowledgeable about the business enviornment that railroads participate in and those who compete with railroads for business and how the competition endeavors to take the business from railroads and vice versa.
BaltACDWithout the business of hauling freight and doing so with modicum of profit - railroads don't long exist for the bright paint schemes and their 'funny' equipment.
Kalmbach has to write for their audience. I doubt trucking articles would go over very well with most of them. A lot of people are just interested in bright paint schemes and funny equipment.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
zugmann BaltACD Without the business of hauling freight and doing so with modicum of profit - railroads don't long exist for the bright paint schemes and their 'funny' equipment. Kalmbach has to write for their audience. I doubt trucking articles would go over very well with most of them. A lot of people are just interested in bright paint schemes and funny equipment.
BaltACD Without the business of hauling freight and doing so with modicum of profit - railroads don't long exist for the bright paint schemes and their 'funny' equipment.
As I seem to recall from my childhood in reading Trains - David P. Morgan cared about the business side of the bright paint as he understood without the business there would be no bright paint.
In my teens and early 20's the business forces came very close to having railroads become a postscript of history.
If there were such an article or series of such articles that showed the interrelation between rail and truck traffic I doubt that any of the current readers would react as one reader did when the first "All-Diesel Issue" came out in the fifties--soon after the issue was mailed, David P. Morgan received a copy that had been torn into two parts. (There was a picture of a steam locomotive in the news section.) Also, when the magazine began havinig items about foreign railroads, one reader declared that the magazine should be for USA railroads alone. Mr. Morgan was not cowed by these two readers.
Johnny
There probably is a fair amount on-line including newspaper articles). Perhaps we could have a blog thread cover some of this. And even an occasinal list of links in the magazine.
I agree that Trains should not devote much space, but a little could be helpful. Off topic I have been wondering for some time how goods get to Vancouver Island - not much room for trucks on ferries. I suspect barges. Perhaps there might be enough subscribers for a general freight newsletter.
I believe a fair and balanced article showing the relationship between rail and highway could be interesting. Recall that at one time several railroads had a sizable trucking arm - a historical aspect.
I would suggest that such an article would not be about trucking in and of itself, but the interaction and dynamics between trucks and rail - and there is a lot of that. Perhaps it could include a comparison of the commodities hauled by each, and those which use both.
I don't think Trains should just branch out and delve into trucking like they delve into railroading. But a technical/business article about how railroading might cope with its competition with trucking in the most competitive traffic might be very well received as being basically a railroad subject. The key would be to make it easily understood while getting into the details of how each mode is limited with different types of traffic, and what might be done to extend those limits.
EuclidI don't think Trains should just branch out and delve into trucking like they delve into railroading. But a technical/business article about how railroading might cope with its competition with trucking in the most competitive traffic might be very well received as being basically a railroad subject. The key would be to make it easily understood while getting into the details of how each mode is limited with different types of traffic, and what might be done to extend those limits.
Do you view intermodal as railroad or trucking? You can't separate the two.
My boss has an extensive business that couldn't exist without the railroad. We're on track to have ship or received over 1000 cars this year between the plastic resin blending and the frack sand transload we manage. Then throw in the brokerage loads we do get hauling repair parts to locomotive shops and car shops. You would be amazed at how much stuff is hauled in a truck for the RR. Those in the logistics industry that is what I work in we all pull together. When one of the horses gets lame the others are there making sure that our customers don't know what happened until after the issues are fixed.
Yes I will say it sometimes even the railroad has bailed out the OTR industry. 1973 was one time for sure when the Teamster Union went on strike.
An article or two would be fine, especially as it relates to rail. Would be of broader interest than, say, some obscure branchline no one has heard of and which is of no interest to anyone but the locals. Which sounds more interesting.. how trucking and rails interact and compete?..or.. how the Podunk and Western plans to use its new GP38?
BaltACD Euclid I don't think Trains should just branch out and delve into trucking like they delve into railroading. But a technical/business article about how railroading might cope with its competition with trucking in the most competitive traffic might be very well received as being basically a railroad subject. The key would be to make it easily understood while getting into the details of how each mode is limited with different types of traffic, and what might be done to extend those limits. Do you view intermodal as railroad or trucking? You can't separate the two.
Euclid I don't think Trains should just branch out and delve into trucking like they delve into railroading. But a technical/business article about how railroading might cope with its competition with trucking in the most competitive traffic might be very well received as being basically a railroad subject. The key would be to make it easily understood while getting into the details of how each mode is limited with different types of traffic, and what might be done to extend those limits.
tree68 I believe a fair and balanced article showing the relationship between rail and highway could be interesting. Recall that at one time several railroads had a sizable trucking arm - a historical aspect. I would suggest that such an article would not be about trucking in and of itself, but the interaction and dynamics between trucks and rail - and there is a lot of that. Perhaps it could include a comparison of the commodities hauled by each, and those which use both.
I have read Trains since 1964. If my memory serves me correctly, there have been numerous articles that discussed the interface between rail and highway. Many of them commented on the "unfair" subsidies received by highway users.
Discussing the interface between trucking and rail in Trains is appropriate. However, if one wants to do a deep dive into trucking, they should start with the references that I provided above. Or better yet, dig out the primary source documents from the Department of Transportation, Texas Transportation Institute, U of M Transportation Research Institute, etc.
CMStPnP Here is a good video on trucks behaving badly.........last car on the train. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sVbCRLEZCE
I don't know if anyone else has watched this, but man, the trucks on the last two gondolas in the consist have a bad case of the wiggles!
That can't be good.
LensCapOn A little addendum on my post: The biggest reason I buy and read Trains is for their informative articles on railroad operations today. Two articles that covered modern trucking a bit, by need, was the November 2011 issue (Intermodal special report) and the September 2013 issue (Crescent Corridor). There was a great deal of useful information and I recommend both to anyone who never read them. To cover what I am curious about would not take a large addition to either one. Two pages of text and images is my large guess and I expect much less is needed for present day trucking. Virtually every change in the railroads from 1921 on was either directly due to trucks and cars or encouraged by them. The general speedup of freight traffic that started in the 20’s and continued to today. The streamliner movement was a move against long distance car travel, and it worked pretty well – then the roads got good. Pacemaker type express freights against long distance truck traffic. NYC system even developed an effective container service in the early 20’s using 40’ gondola’s as “well cars”. There are certainly more so there is a lot of history. Knowing who the “enemy of trains” was would be useful to the fan. Based on some posts in the forums, many readers don’t understand the realities facing the railroads. People were under investing and pulling what money they could with dividends in the later 50’s because they knew their old business was gone so it was best to get the cash they could. So there is a need for a good article. There are some really good comments here! (even the ones who say “DON’T DO IT!”)
I say, “DO IT!” From the way you describe the focus, I think you are exactly on the right track. Make it about finding opportunities to better compete with trucking with new methods and new technology. Don’t make it about the unfair playing field of government subsidizing roads and trucking while not subsidizing railroads. That has been played to death, and it is also impossible to resolve. Make it more like the writing of John Kneiling. Introduce some new ideas. Make it clear and convincing.
I don't know about an entire article, but some mention of trucking would provide context. People read Trains and find out about rail problems and issues. But many of those folks don't have any context to frame those problems and issues.
Here's something from the News board that does help:
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2019/10/03-industry-analysts-dissect-falling-rail-and-truck-volumes
Trains n' truckin'? It's been done before...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5HzgPk69k4
SPARE ME PLEASE
I think most readers know more about trucks than they know about trains. Most people are on the highway every day and see more trucks than they want to see. And after a long drive we probably hope to never see one of those road hogs again. We see trucks making pick-ups or deliveries everywhere we go. And we know enough about why they capture business -- they are flexible, go where needed, get there fast, keep to schedule, use public roads, and have low operating costs. Most of us do not see railroads unless we seek them out. Many of us would like to know more about the business end of railroading but don't want TRAINS wasting space on what some of us hate. The people who should learn more about why trucking is such a strong competitor are the marketing people at railroads -- but they have sources of that information and do not have to read TRAINS to get it.
I think the main point of interest in this train/truck topic is that while each mode has its own niche, there is a possibility of trucking expanding its niche into the domain of rail. At the same time, there appears to be very little possiblity of rail exanding into the domain of trucking. So the point of the article would be: "Know Your Enemy."
The general objective would be for rail to become more flexible in order to compete with trucking to meet demand that seeks better performance.
The point of any article should be how the two modes could be coordinated to work together. They're both only tools after all.. sometimes one works better than the other. Carpenters certainly don't try to use a hammer when a saw would work better, yet we in transportation seem to be trying to do just that.
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