> > > Jim Cathey wrote: > > > > > > Sounds a lot like a train, dunnit?
> > Craig wrote: > > > > I was thinking the very same thing; you beat me to it. > > > > Trains on rails also have cars that can take fully-loaded semi > > vans so the origination and destination points can be as > > flexible as a semi driven between those points. > G wrote: > > Big difference with trains over trucks. The day when businesses > had rail spurs to unload boxcars of goods vaporized over 50 years > ago. That was Craig's point. With "inter-modal" the same container that is on the ship is on the train is on the trailer. Or just "piggy-back" with a regular road trailer on the rail car. But the reason the truck "wins" over railroad is time. Just-In-Time manufacturing deliveries, sellers and buyers who _can't_ wait a fortnight for their load of goods, fresh vegetables in New York from the far west coast - these are the situations where trucks win. And it costs more to ship via truck. As I understand, an express train with priority can make the 3000 mile trip from LA to New York in 7 days. Normal freight is quite a bit slower. A team-driven truck can do the same trip in less 3 days. A solo-driven truck will still beat the express train by making the trip in 5-6 days. Nothing special or high priority about these trucks - just ordinary, everyday trucks. So I-gotta-have-it-now trumps the lower cost of the railroad. > The battle between a semi tractor/trailer with 80,000 lbs. of goods > and the commuter "smart car" driver, is one nobody wins. Too true... Most trucks weigh less than the federal weight limit of 80,000 lb [36,300 kg] (since a typical road truck and trailer have an empty weight of about 30,000 lb [13,600 kg], there is usually no more than 50,000 lb [22,700 kg] of goods) - but even an empty tractor/semi-trailer combination results in a no-win encounter. -- Philip _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor.
