4 ms·

We are a very, very long way away from the point where shipping by rail gets hard due to last mile problems. Currently we're shipping tons of stuff cross countr

• deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
• wonderwonder 5y ago
  Think its the opposite, appears its the first mile problem. Its cheaper to just load it onto a truck at the source and drive it across country rather than loading on a truck, drive it to the rail and reload it and then unload it back onto a truck and drive it the last mile.
  • HPsquared 5y ago
    That inconvenience seems like it could be resolved with containerization, only at a smaller scale than the current 40-foot containers. Small standardized containers could be rapidly transferred between truck and train.
    • toast0 5y ago
      20 foot (nominal) containers are standardized and common. On rail, they usually put two on one car; I'm not sure if that's done with the same type car that takes a aingle 40 ft, or if they're different cars.
      • ashtonkem 5y ago
        That unfortunately is under loading the car by quite a bit. Semi truck trailers are limited to 80,000lbs, including the trailer itself. Rail cars are usually rated for much more, the Union Pacific will accept up to 268,000 lbs including the car itself. Loading two tractor containers on a rail car is leaving ~100,000 lbs of cargo capacity on the table, so to speak.
        • toast0 5y ago
          You can also double stack on the well cars (subject to height limits of the route); if you really want to hit the car weight limit, four 20foot containers at road limit should be close to the rail limit, depending on how much trailers and well cars weigh.