At 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 cruising above the posted speed in the left lane and has a beef when he has to kill his cruise control. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
As for the railroad thing, even he knows why it won't work. First, the rails themselves are running at capacity. Since it is private money that lays the rails- not fuel tax money, don't you think that if it made economic sense, more rail would be laid?
Second, we all know that certain commodities lend themselves particularly well to rail transport. Coal, bulk grain, and tanked chemicals come to mind. The largest purchaser of rail transport in the USA is UPS. Don't you think that if more space was available, more trailers would be piggybacked? The reality is that some products don't lend themselves to rail transport. Fresh refrigerated produce, flowers, and meat are what I think of right off the bat.
Then there's the little detail of businesses that have eliminated their own warehousing and supplying by going to 'just-in-time' manufacturing techniques relying on suppliers and a very efficient road transport system so get their raw materials to them and the finished goods hauled to market. You probably aren't aware that for every product you buy, from raw material to final point of sale, it was on a truck an average of 6 times!
And of course there's your own situation. When you order some chatzke from eBay, or a book from Amazon, or a part for your Chevy. You want it tomorrow. On rail, it ain't happening. Thank the nice trucker, s-he might have lost some sleep getting it to you.
So, Brink (Op) and other railophiles, get over it. Your beloved railroads have chosen to not participate except in the most basic way in the economic expansion. As said, there's things they do, and things they don't do. So support the railroads for keeping the coal wagons off the highways, and when you see a nice, fresh head of lettuce in the store in January, or pull a carton of ice cream out of the freezer in August down there in Texas, be glad there are trucks and people willing to work the hours necessary to bring those things to you.
If a truck happens to slow you down a few seconds on the highway, remember, that driver is out there for you. He's not just joy-riding around looking to get in your way.
Have a great day, and when you gripe about trucks, don't do it with your mouth full.
Thanks.
Jim
