3 ms·
I'd guess that in Europe there are a lot less long-haul drives than in the USA. Those are the ones that can pay big bucks and make O/O efficient. If you're goi
by ptudan 5y ago
I'd guess that in Europe there are a lot less long-haul drives than in the USA. Those are the ones that can pay big bucks and make O/O efficient. If you're going on a 6 hour round trip there's no reason you can't drop off the truck at HQ and head home to your family.
- Teknoman117 5y agoEurope also kept maintaining their rail lines whereas the US has neglected ours because trucks were seen as a way to stick it to the rail companies. Our loss considering that freight trains are 4 times as efficient in terms of cargo ton-miles per gallon of diesel.
- maxerickson 5y agoThe US makes extensive use of freight rail. Like look at the per Capita number at the end of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_rail_usage https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_rail_us... The modal share for rail is also relatively high. A lot of it is bulk commodities of course.
- Teknoman117 5y agoIt just seems like for the quantity of stuff we move around, we should have more rail. We have massive wide open flat spaces to build rail lines, yet, we don't. Transport by car or truck accounts for 20% of US carbon emissions, while freight rail is just 0.5%, and the freight rail is moving 28% of all cargo "ton-miles".
- etempleton 5y agoRail doesn’t get things to the last mile and can be slow. Efficient in volume not in time. America’s freight infrastructure is the envy of many country. It isn’t modern,fast, or even that well maintained, but it is extensive. Passenger rail is a completely different story in the US.
- Armisael16 5y agoI’m guessing you’ve never looked at US rail in any aspect other than passenger rail? The US runs ~8x the rail freight that the EU does.