Which method of travel yould like to see more of? Trains or Trucks
I like them all.
Not to get off the topic too much, but how efficeint are locomotives per ton compared to tractor-trailer rigs? Speaking strictly fuel efficiancy? I would definitly like to see more train travel as opposed to trucks. I’m wondering if as the price of fuel continues to skyrocket if we will see more cross-country deliveries being made by rail rather than by tractor-trailer.
Not to take a shot at the person who started this thread, but I’m pretty tired of this overly hashed subject. I make my living in the logistics dept of a large company that does a “lot” of both truck and rail.
Right now, the RR’s are beyond their capacity limit in a lot of corridors and at many, many ramps. That is, they can’t handle all the business that is being offered to them. They will tell you that they are de-marketing business. That is, in plain english walking away from business because they can’t handle all that they are being offered. Have you checked the AAR stats recently? They’re seeing record volumes in several commodity lines. Not 2005 records, all time records. They are implementing a wide range of processes to control what comes in the gate for intermodal in order to handle the volumes. (ie. CN’s IMX, UP’s Reservation Process, BNSF Allocation Process, CSX Reservation Process for CSXU’s, etc. storage charges oh yeah and a lot, lot of rate activity.) They’re tapped out, can’t handle a lot more growth, so for as much as we like to get romantic and as unfair as many see the world being in the trucks vs. trains arena, the reality today is, if ALL of the trucks went away tomorrow, the railroads could NOT handle much more than they handle today. At the same time, they can’t afford the capital to dramatically increase capacity… and why would they? If they dump a bunch of capacity into the mix, then capacity supply will equal or exceed demand and price will drop. Why would they spend money on capital projects which are finally getting returns that are re-investivable, only to drive down their rates in the name of trying to take share from trucks? Wall Street wouldn’t let them do it if they wanted to… and they don’t want to. They’ll slowly ratchet up capacity, just slightly lagging demand, which will continue to yield favorable rates because of competition for that capacity.
Now lets put the boot on the other foot. If all the trains went awa
TRAINS!!!
I really don’t like trucks very much because most of them don’t even know how to drive!
I was on vacation when we had a close call with a truck. When I mean trucks, I mean 18 wheelers. I do like smaller trucks though. But trucks might replace trains just as trains replaced horses. Some day those trucks will be replaced by hover cars…
C U ALL L8TER!!!
[:)][8D][:D][8)][:P][;)][X-)][%-)][(-D][swg][zzz]
Never talk like that.
ive seen lots of overheight trucks take on the clinton st viaduct here in town and they just keep losing!!!
stay safe
Joe
Which would I like to see? Depends on what I’m shipping or receiving, and what the origin and destination are, etc. etc. Read dblstack’s post.
yea what that one guy said. you can’t have one without the other.
traintownofcowee, not ALL truck drivers are bad news. there are a LOT of bad drivers all around… i remember trying to follow 261 from davenport, IA to bureau, IL a couple years ago. i ran into (almost literally) some fairly nasty railfans on the road and i thought i was an overly offensive driver. my big a$$ chevy pickup versus their***box yota’s=me in the spot where i wanted to be the whole time.
Actually most oversize loads go on the Highways because the railroads don’t have the clearances to handle them. It is easier to find a highway route, than a railroad route, that avoids close clearance structutes such as bridges and tunnels.
I’m a railfan, that is why I check this forum and of course I’d rather see more trains. Trucks are an ok machine but I see more of them then I wi***o see on any given day , and trucks are realy just road traffic all over the place. To see a train I have to deliberately go to the tracks and be patient to see a train, to actualy get stopped by sheer luck at a railway crossing by a train is a very rare thing for me.
Going to school in Upstate NY means regularly driving on I-87. I have had trucks nearly come over the line into my lane as I was passing them. That is a sobering experiance. All I can say is thank God the River Line is fianlly going to be double-tracked.
I like both but I would prefer to see more trains.
Well hate to tell you this but most car truck crashes are the fault of the car. Dont try to say it isnt I have the stats adn I lived it for 14 years. When you guys cut in wayyyyyyyy to close and I have to jack on teh brakes I cant stop like you can. Plus when I hauled coils I never hit the brakes hard I just got right up on em and blew the horn. Not going to kill myself over someones stupidity.
Now I ama conductor for BNSF and we haul a lot of truck freight cross country. Works out for all so now I would say trucking and railroading have come togther for a mutual relationship. Face it old drivers are leaveing and not coming back and new ones cant handle that lifestyle. SO who knows mybe trucking will go regional and toss traffic to the railroads for long haul,
I like both. As some have said , yes we need both. In some cases trains can a product over a long distance then you have the truck haul it the rest of the way. Either way, even if you tried to eliminate trucks, you have another transportaion issue b/c RR switching is pretty expensive.
dont tempt fate… never speak of such horrible things as cars without wheels! ill probably be the last person on earth driving a car with a carbeuator.
i need to say trains. they are the only thing that is engeneered to be Really heavy.trains are funner to watch than trucks. being a truck driver might be fun for a while, but id rather work as a switchman or engineer.
GEARHEAD426
hey,when i go to rochelle illinois railfanning, i stop at one of largest truckstops in the us at interstates 88 and 39, and get pix of some really decked out rigs. peterbuilts, kenworths,freightliners,oskosh,mack,ect. some super cool trick paint jobs on tractors an huge 2 or 3 bedroom sleepers!! i like BIG TRUCKS
but i like trains better.great to see them both working together,like father n son!!
a new world trailer world record set a few weeks ago. 250,000 + cont.,trailer,
hauled by rrs in a week! go rrs go!!
I’ll back you up on this subject. I work at a diesel servicing facility, which mainly deals with on highway diesels (trucks) and some off road diesels (construction equipment). Everytime I go out on a road test I will always see someone that does something very stupid in front of my truck, espeacilly on the highway. Even in the parking lot I’ll see people do stupid things around trucks. I hate to say it but, many of the accidents that occur on the road are due to what I like to call " Ignorant gerneral public drivers" or IGPD.
Now getting back to the question at hand. I would prefer to see more trains out there than trucks. If it were possible and logical I would say get more trucks off the road and get more trains on the rails. Of course I would I’m a railfan!!![:D]
Hey “Rock,”
I’m curious where you do your “conducting” work on BNSF? [;)] My employers ships a lot of TOFC and some COFC with BNSF. The boxes are of a highly visible color. I’ve had the opportunity to ride a couple routes out of Chicago in the last few months. Its a real eye opener to get out on the line. You look at the RR environment and business a little differently and have a lot more respect for train crews and what they endure.
Similarly in riding along with our truck drivers, you get a different opinion of an unfortunately sizable bit of the motoring public and a much greater respect for driving around a big truck.
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- Stack
I actually had a driver of a car tell me I have 5 axles I should be able to stop twice as fast. The cop at the scene laughed at the driver of the car. I told said driver your car might weigh 2 tons I weigh 40 do the math. The irony of that one is the guy rear ended me and was the local DMV supervisor. I thought to myself there is a GOD!