rude drivers nope. rude TRUCKERS... 1941At the risk of falling for the ignorant 4-wheelers' cross-posted rant, Yes. The same thread starts every little while after some (usually) barely post-teen motorist, who has been...
They would if they could, but due to NIMBYism, they can't - as well as not being able to compete with free roads that the trucking industry uses.
Amtrak at least exists, unlike private rail pbuttenger service, which does not exist.
I was talking about 1 engineer and 1 fireman moving the equivalent of 800 trucks.
Now, imagine all that labor you cited about loading, unloading, etc. was automated - which it surely should be able to be. One way would be to simply drive the truck onto a railcar, without unloading it. Sorting should be doable with a computer - switching trainbuilding, if we're going to stick to technology currently available, instead of futuristic rail transport systems that handle railcars individually under their own power without forming "trains", should be doable automatically too with just a little improvement in technology to couple uncouple cars, run switch engines automatically, and keep track of cargo automatically. Yes, some improvements in the system need to be made, but that's what I'm talking about - build more rails, improve the technology JUST A LITTLE so the cargo doesn't EVER sit around in a railyard, on a siding, etc, but is virtually ALWAYS moving toward its destination.
But each truck going 25 - 50 miles to its destination, instead of 1000 miles out on our interstates, will vastly reduce congestion caused by trucks on interstate highways.
Yep - and the heavily subsidized trucking industry, who use highways built by the state, are chosen instead of the rail industry who must build their own rails. Get the government in the business of building rails and the trucking industry won't be chosen so often.
The solution isn't to decrease demand, but build more efficient alternatives to trucking.
Dave Head
