> Way cheaper to ship by boat up the coast. Corollary: one reason we see a mismatch here in modern days is the long term effect of the Jones Act. WWII was onl

> Way cheaper to ship by boat up the coast. Corollary: one reason we see a mismatch here in modern days is the long term effect of the Jones Act. WWII was only a couple decades after Jones Act, and there was still a huge domestically flagged merchant marine. Today, not so much. It's illegal for a non-US flagged ship to go between two US ports, so we see more done by train.