>The problem with railroad is exactly the other side of this: that you can't trivially and automatically detach a single car at any point. I know businesses tha

>The problem with railroad is exactly the other side of this: that you can't trivially and automatically detach a single car at any point. I know businesses that literally have an old railroad branch line right up to their door, but they can't actually order anything meaningful via rail. Because companies have invested in JIT because low cost of trucking, an industry which is heavily subsidized (https://www.cbo.gov/publication/50049 https://www.cbo.gov/publication/50049), allows it. If trucking costs reflected their true cost, railroad would look a ton more attractive along with not doing JIT.