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Old 04-28-09, 06:12 AM
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jgedwa
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Originally Posted by StrangeWill
I don't get it, it's pretty much always been the setup, trains are used for large hauls, and trucks regularly pick up at train yards, can't have a train stop at your local Wal-Mart and Performance Bikes.

Nothing really new.
Actually, to some extent today, and much more so in the past, any business that moved a significant amount of product (in and/or out) would be on a rail spur. There is no reason, for example, that a place like a Wallyworld could not be on a spur. I am only guessing, but I would imagine that they move enough volume to warrant it. Or at least a place that moved that much volume would have warranted it in the past.

Until oil becomes enormously more expensive, trucks will always have their place, but more can be down with rail than we often times suppose.

The real issue is not so much the role of trucks as transportation, but rather the role of trucks as rolling warehouses within the model of "just in time" warehousing. That is mighty conveinient, but it is only really feasible when the cost of fuel is low enough to justify keeping your stock moving around the country at all times. As the cost of fuel goes up, fewer businesses (and ultimately customers) will be willing to pay for this nicety. And then, I suspect the relative value of rail will leapfrog over trucking in many applications.

jim
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