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I'm curious about logistics in general. If the US rebuild its train system, by expanding it, would it make more economic sense to have production centered here?
by virmundi 8y ago
I'm curious about logistics in general. If the US rebuild its train system, by expanding it, would it make more economic sense to have production centered here? Could the US transport clothing from say, Indianapolis, to EU member states more efficiently, cleanly than China's proposed rail/road system?
- mikeash 8y agoThe US freight rail system is already excellent. This fact is often missed in the periodic “American trains suck so hard” pieces because it’s not visible to the average person the way passenger service is.
- virmundi 8y agoThank you for replying. Do we have the infrastructure to compete with large shipping vessels? Part of my curiosity is the switch over that supposed to happen soon in diesel fuel. If the price of fuel increases, will it make manufacturing in a central continent preferable?
- mikeash 8y agoI’m far from an expert, but it seems that ships win on price pretty strongly: https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/comparing-maritime-versus-railway-transportation-costs https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/comparing-mari... Apparently it’s considerably cheaper to ship coast to coast by sea even though it’s a lot farther. Rail’s big advantage there is speed. Fuel costs would hit both, but I don’t know which one would suffer more. In theory, rail could become independent of fuel costs by using electricity, but I don’t think electric trains are cost effective over such distances.