Subsidies are established because society does value the good or service being subsidized…otherwise the subsidy would never come in to play. Society wants the flexibility of and speed that only over the road transportation can provide…and we all pay for that infrastructure. If society as a whole did NOT value this type of transportation then the message would be …“we’re not going to put money into this…if you want a truck to move your stuff then you Mr. Shipper can pay $100.00+ per mile to move your loads”. What do we as a society get for our tax dollars? Well…we do have an excellent over the road transportation system…and make no mistake about it…it isn’t perfect but it is excellent. Our manaufacturers are able to ship pretty anywhere within a thousand mile radius of their plants overnight…and often at rates that are cheaper than rail. Look at some of the denser lanes…like Charleston, SC to Atlanta, GA… 550 bucks will get you a flatbed truck and door to door service in under eight hours… sure its subsidized…but we get what we pay for.