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The density map is also fascinating. You can make out the offshore wind fields in the north sea.

by phreeza 11y ago

Cthulhu_ 11y ago
It's also interesting to see how busy the waterways in / around the North Sea / European west coast are compared to the US. But then, the US is a large landmass and probably has a lot more ground transport (e.g. trains)
- ThrustVectoring 11y ago
  Those waterways fill the same sort of role that barges on the Mississippi fill in the US.
- cbhl 11y ago
  IIRC, most stuff gets around the US on 18-wheelers using highways. (Train infrastructure in the US is laughably terrible.)
  - Symbiote 11y ago
    That's not the case, freight trains in the USA are excellent. European railways prioritise passengers, but much freight moves by water.
    - showerst 11y ago
      Most stuff does indeed get around the US by truck: http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/freight_shipments_in_america/html/entire.html http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/pub... I've also heard our freight rail infrastructure described as excellent through, so maybe if you compared it to other countries in cost per ton/mile it would come out well.
    - PhantomGremlin 11y ago
      It really depends on what you're transporting. If you want to move 100 tank cars of crude oil, or 100 cars of coal, then a freight train will accomplish that pretty easily. You can even move a truck trailer via rail, that's called intermodal. But if you want to deliver 50,000 pounds of freight across the country in three days, you can't do it by rail. You pay a tractor trailer "team" (e.g. often a husband and wife)* to pick up your load on the West Coast on Thursday and deliver it on the East Coast on Monday. They'll take turns driving all weekend to accomplish that. Bulk stuff moves by train or barge, relatively heavy relatively time sensitive stuff moves by truck, light and time sensitive stuff moves by air. *Edit: that sounds complicated or risky, but it's not. Manufacturers use logistics companies to handle these details. Logistics companies are also good at quickly moving LTL (less-than-truckload) loads across long distances by consolidating multiple shipments into one trailer.

The density map is also fascinating. You can make out the offshore wind fields in the north sea.

by phreeza 11y ago

The density map is also fascinating. You can make out the offshore wind fields in the north sea.

It's also interesting to see how busy the waterways in / around the North Sea / European west coast are compared to the US. But then, the US is a large landmass and probably has a lot more ground transport (e.g. trains)

ThrustVectoring 11y ago
Those waterways fill the same sort of role that barges on the Mississippi fill in the US.
cbhl 11y ago
IIRC, most stuff gets around the US on 18-wheelers using highways. (Train infrastructure in the US is laughably terrible.)
- Symbiote 11y ago
  That's not the case, freight trains in the USA are excellent. European railways prioritise passengers, but much freight moves by water.
  - showerst 11y ago
    Most stuff does indeed get around the US by truck: http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/freight_shipments_in_america/html/entire.html http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/pub... I've also heard our freight rail infrastructure described as excellent through, so maybe if you compared it to other countries in cost per ton/mile it would come out well.
  - PhantomGremlin 11y ago
    It really depends on what you're transporting. If you want to move 100 tank cars of crude oil, or 100 cars of coal, then a freight train will accomplish that pretty easily. You can even move a truck trailer via rail, that's called intermodal. But if you want to deliver 50,000 pounds of freight across the country in three days, you can't do it by rail. You pay a tractor trailer "team" (e.g. often a husband and wife)* to pick up your load on the West Coast on Thursday and deliver it on the East Coast on Monday. They'll take turns driving all weekend to accomplish that. Bulk stuff moves by train or barge, relatively heavy relatively time sensitive stuff moves by truck, light and time sensitive stuff moves by air. *Edit: that sounds complicated or risky, but it's not. Manufacturers use logistics companies to handle these details. Logistics companies are also good at quickly moving LTL (less-than-truckload) loads across long distances by consolidating multiple shipments into one trailer.