3 ms·

This is a topic that is talked about in academia quite a bit (I have a master in supply chain management) The main problem with trains is that you - naturally

This is a topic that is talked about in academia quite a bit (I have a master in supply chain management) The main problem with trains is that you - naturally - have low flexibility in terms of where you can deliver goods. You are relying on trucks for the last-mile pick-up & delivery for the majority of trips. You might need to load/onload 4-6 times going from truck > train > truck. Because of the time & costs associated with switching mode of transport, these intermodal alternatives become uncompetitive compared to a single door-to-door delivery via truck, even for fairly long distances. The logistics providers will optimize for lower cost over lower pollution, so intermodal transport via train can be hard to justify unless the customer is willing to pay for it in terms of money or time.

clairity 6y ago
this is an example of how our economic choices are altered for the worse by negative externalities. we need to properly internalize the cost of pollution from fossil fuels, roads, tires, weight, miles, etc. so that economic choices are appropriately rationalized.
WalterBright 6y ago
Trucks don't pay for much of their costs. For example, most of the maintenance of highways is the result of the heavy trucks slowly braking up the pavement.
- Qwertious 6y ago
  >Trucks don't pay for much of their costs. And IIRC companies like Linfox donate billions to both main political parties, which I'm sure has no effect on the decision to keep truck registration costs so low.
bostonvaulter2 6y ago
Do remember that damage to the road from tires scales exponentially with weight (per tire). So those trucks are doing huge damage to the roads (and not paying for it directly). Here's an article with a nice graph about it: https://streets.mn/2016/07/07/chart-of-the-day-vehicle-weight-vs-road-damage-levels/ https://streets.mn/2016/07/07/chart-of-the-day-vehicle-weigh...
WalterBright 6y ago
> You might need to load/onload 4-6 times going from truck > train > truck. That sounds strange to me. It implies that the US doesn't have a rail network, just rail lines that don't connect to anything.
- vel0city 6y ago
  Something gets made at a plant domestically. It gets brought to the train station to be shipped. Truck -> train. The train carries it a few states over to the wholesaler's mega warehouse. Train -> truck. Wholesaler breaks it down, groups it with other things to send out, Truck -> Train. Regional distribution center picks it up from the train station and takes it back to their distribution center. Train -> Truck. Then it gets put out as individual orders in the region. Truck -> Store. If you're needing the truck to take it back and fourth from the train station, you may just find it easier and faster to just have the truck carry it all the way from the port to the mega warehouse, then to the distribution center, then to the actual delivery site.
  - WalterBright 6y ago
    The "few states over" is what should go on the train. It's the same idea as container shipping.
    - vel0city 6y ago
      "Regional" here still encompasses a few states and several hundred miles for a trip. In the US "regional" distribution centers may cover the same geographic area as France+Germany+Belgium+Netherlands. Its not uncommon for New Mexico+Texas+Oklahoma+Arkansas+Lousiana to be one "region", if you're set up in Oklahoma or Texas each of those states is pretty much just one state over. Albuquerque to Memphis (the East-West stretch of this region) is 1,000mi.

clairity 6y ago

this is an example of how our economic choices are altered for the worse by negative externalities. we need to properly internalize the cost of pollution from fossil fuels, roads, tires, weight, miles, etc. so that economic choices are appropriately rationalized.

WalterBright 6y ago

Trucks don't pay for much of their costs. For example, most of the maintenance of highways is the result of the heavy trucks slowly braking up the pavement.

Qwertious 6y ago
>Trucks don't pay for much of their costs. And IIRC companies like Linfox donate billions to both main political parties, which I'm sure has no effect on the decision to keep truck registration costs so low.

bostonvaulter2 6y ago

Do remember that damage to the road from tires scales exponentially with weight (per tire). So those trucks are doing huge damage to the roads (and not paying for it directly). Here's an article with a nice graph about it: https://streets.mn/2016/07/07/chart-of-the-day-vehicle-weight-vs-road-damage-levels/ https://streets.mn/2016/07/07/chart-of-the-day-vehicle-weigh...

WalterBright 6y ago

> You might need to load/onload 4-6 times going from truck > train > truck. That sounds strange to me. It implies that the US doesn't have a rail network, just rail lines that don't connect to anything.

vel0city 6y ago
Something gets made at a plant domestically. It gets brought to the train station to be shipped. Truck -> train. The train carries it a few states over to the wholesaler's mega warehouse. Train -> truck. Wholesaler breaks it down, groups it with other things to send out, Truck -> Train. Regional distribution center picks it up from the train station and takes it back to their distribution center. Train -> Truck. Then it gets put out as individual orders in the region. Truck -> Store. If you're needing the truck to take it back and fourth from the train station, you may just find it easier and faster to just have the truck carry it all the way from the port to the mega warehouse, then to the distribution center, then to the actual delivery site.
- WalterBright 6y ago
  The "few states over" is what should go on the train. It's the same idea as container shipping.
  - vel0city 6y ago
    "Regional" here still encompasses a few states and several hundred miles for a trip. In the US "regional" distribution centers may cover the same geographic area as France+Germany+Belgium+Netherlands. Its not uncommon for New Mexico+Texas+Oklahoma+Arkansas+Lousiana to be one "region", if you're set up in Oklahoma or Texas each of those states is pretty much just one state over. Albuquerque to Memphis (the East-West stretch of this region) is 1,000mi.