Mistakenly thought of by some people as an antiquated form of transportation, railroading has continued to thrive in the 21st century. With rising fuel prices, the efficiency advantage of hauling freight long distances by rail instead of truck is becoming more important. Steel wheels rolling over steel rails is a low rolling resistance formula for success; trains over a mile in length are frequently handled by just two employees (an engineer and a conductor).
One of the best bets for railroad growth is multi-modal (aka intermodal) transportation, where freight is loaded onto trains at a port or plant, travels by rail most of the way, and is finally transported by truck to the final destination where the tracks may not lead all of the way up to. In railroad terminology, these trains are often referred to as COFC (for container on a flatcar) or TOFC (trailer on a flatcar).
Today, the Washington Post published an article and a video by Frank Ahrens elaborating on the economic advantages of railroads and reporting on the fact that railroads are increasing their clearances to allow for double-stack COFC trains:
A train can haul a ton of freight 423 miles on one gallon of diesel fuel, about a 3-to-1 fuel efficiency advantage over 18-wheelers, and the railroad industry is increasingly touting itself as an eco-friendly alternative. Trucking firms also use the rail lines; UPS is the railroad industry’s biggest customer.
Rail traffic, revenue and profit began to soar in 2002-03 and seem largely immune to the economic downturn…
Thanks to Mike, Kevin, and Kristy for referring The Low-Tech Times to the Washington Post article.