[PLUG-TALK] Re: [PLUG] OT License plates and covers.

[Michael C. Robinson]

On Fri, 2003-12-12 at 13:26, Russ Johnson wrote:
> * Brent Rieck <bsr at spek.org> [2003-12-11 23:31]:
> > >I suspect your SO moves millions of pounds of metal, but not always from
> > >the same place, to the same place. 
> > 
> > The origins are not always the same, the destinations are always the 
> > same however: shipyards on the west and east coasts, all of which have 
> > rail lines heading into them.
> 
> Which was actually my point. The rails are run on a schedule, so if it
> doesn't go from point A to point B at the same time, everytime, it costs
> more. The rails rely on repeatability. Unfortunatley, this also works
> against them. 

Truck trains, triple trailers, don't have this problem?  Trains 
become more practical if you can load the contents of trucks onto
flatbed railcars in the field without heavy equipment.  How many 
trucks are driven 3000 miles on a single trip?  Better yet, 
why not load the whole truck onto a train with the driver?  I've
seen truck trailers loaded onto trains without the wheels and 
even with them still attached, this generally takes heavy 
equipment though.

Most rail systems are heavily computerized so that modifying 
routes if you know enough ahead of time what the scheduling 
looks like should be possible.  Trains are much cleaner 
transports than trucks capable of hauling an amount of 
tonnage that puts the trucking industry, as well as the 
cost of road repairs and accidents caused directly by 
big rig traffic, to shame.

What does it cost to allow so many trucks on the road compared
to what it would cost to only allow light trucks and move the
heavy hauling over distances of 300 miles or more to trains?
I've heard that there is a handling issue, even UPS moves 
freight from one truck to another.

Jeme made the comment cars are lethal weapons, I'm more concerned
about the overuse of SUV's and the fact that the fuels these
vehicles got through DEQ with aren't available at the pump.  The
underutilized rail system if it were brought up could be used for
distribution of the alcohol based fuels most SUV's these days can
operate on.  This has the benefit of avoiding costly and dangerous
pipelines.

-- 
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Michael C. Robinson

Associates of General Studies 
PCC March 2003.

Views held by me do not 
necessarily coincide with 
every view posted on a 
mailing list this message 
appears on.
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