Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think it could , judging by the way the airlines are treating people these days. What they'll probably do, is make each passenger hold a package in their lap while they sit in those tiny, too close together seats. And if they made each person wear a backpack they could double the cargo carried. Just saying !
By far, railroad is the most cost efficient cargo mover. In some countries, like old USSR, country was wrapped into railroads. They were everywhere. Here in the USA - not so much. And railroads are VERY expensive to build in a country formed like USA. It should have been done long ago, before city spawned. I almost can bet though that, just like they did collude on killing public transportation, so did the Big ones collude to kill railroads and run everything through rivers of petrol and mountains of metal, called cars and trucks.
Whatever gives THEM more profit, that is the way it's done.
By far, railroad is the most cost efficient cargo mover. In some countries, like old USSR, country was wrapped into railroads. They were everywhere. Here in the USA - not so much. And railroads are VERY expensive to build in a country formed like USA. It should have been done long ago, before city spawned. I almost can bet though that, just like they did collude on killing public transportation, so did the Big ones collude to kill railroads and run everything through rivers of petrol and mountains of metal, called cars and trucks. Whatever gives THEM more profit, that is the way it's done.
Current American rail mileage is about 140,000, down from 250,000 at its peak in 1915; that was made possible by the reduction of major railroad companies from about 50 to the present 7, and by the closure of the branch lines which meandered between relatively small communities to serve feed mills, lumber yards, fuel dealers and other small enterprises. The size of the average freight car, however, has doubled. Railroads today carry more total ton miles, but in heavier, longer, and less-frequent trains -- and anything of value moves in an interchangeable, adaptable container.
Despite the claim that "they were everywhere", Soviet rail mileage never exceeded 95,000, spread over a much larger land mass, and highway development has become a priority since the fall of the heirs of Stalin.
The privately-held railroads have always operated to make a profit. The Great Depression of the Thirties drove many into receivership, but all but a handful were eventually reorganized. The financial difficulties after World War II proved more difficult to address, with all the Northeastern carriers such as Penn-Central and Erie-Lackawanna -- plus several more in the Upper Midwest (about one-third of total mileage) in the bankruptcy courts. After a one-time infusion of capital and divestiture of commuter services to local operating authorities, nearly all of them were restored to profitable operation. Only one major rail carrier (Rock Island, in 1980) was dismantled nearly en toto.
Only four nations (the United States, Canada, China and the former Soviet Union) rely heavily on railroads to move industrial goods over long distances. The geographic makeup of Europe allows most heavy industry to situate itself close to tidewater, and the navigability of several major rivers takes care of most of the rest. So the European rail systems are overwhelmingly passenger-oriented, aided by a tax system which still discourages the private auto as a luxury.
The claim that private enterprises colluded to "destroy" public transportation has a basis in fact; General Motors and several other manufacturers did obtain control of a group of city transit systems and encouraged the abandonment of streetcar systems in favor of buses:
but linking this to complete abandonment of bus systems is a stretch; it has been greatly over-hyped and over-simplified by the mass-transit advocacy, with help from "the usual suspects" over there in Left Field.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 04-21-2016 at 07:24 PM..
By far, railroad is the most cost efficient cargo mover. In some countries, like old USSR, country was wrapped into railroads. They were everywhere. Here in the USA - not so much. And railroads are VERY expensive to build in a country formed like USA. It should have been done long ago, before city spawned. I almost can bet though that, just like they did collude on killing public transportation, so did the Big ones collude to kill railroads and run everything through rivers of petrol and mountains of metal, called cars and trucks.
Whatever gives THEM more profit, that is the way it's done.
This is actually very interesting especially for a country like ours.
Rail transport played a crucial role for our development from early settlers era.
But one can't escape the fact that air transport is faster and easier to build, operate and make profits.
This is actually very interesting especially for a country like ours.
Rail transport played a crucial role for our development from early settlers era.
But one can't escape the fact that air transport is faster and easier to build, operate and make profits.
You just need birds and a piece of pavement
And much, much, much more expensive.
Those lighter than air aircraft are not even remotely close to being capable. The first video says 21 metric ton capacity. That's about 46,000 US pounds. Compare that to the 223,000lb capacity of the 777F, those blimps are just a novelty.
Those lighter than air aircraft are not even remotely close to being capable. The first video says 21 metric ton capacity. That's about 46,000 US pounds. Compare that to the 223,000lb capacity of the 777F, those blimps are just a novelty.
They look neat, but like anything that travels in the air at less than 100 knots, the Airlander is greatly affected by winds. Anyone ever flown a light aircraft and looked down to see highway traffic passing you? Goodyear blimp pilots said that was one of the greatest challenges to flying one, watching the landscape barely change. The size, infrastructure requirements and lack of speed relegate hybrid airships to toys.
Those lighter than air aircraft are not even remotely close to being capable. The first video says 21 metric ton capacity. That's about 46,000 US pounds. Compare that to the 223,000lb capacity of the 777F, those blimps are just a novelty.
Even compared to an 18-wheeler, they offer a smaller payload, are slower, and can't pull right up to the front door (or loading dock) of just about any business.
And I'm pretty sure they require more than one operator.
What'll be needed are pilotless 747's nose to tail with pilotless 380's.........and some duct tape......
From the Flexport blog........
Quote:
Recently, a convoy of self-driving trucks drove across Europe and arrived at the Port of Rotterdam. No technology will automate away more jobs—or drive more economic efficiency—than the driverless truck.
Shipping a full truckload from L.A. to New York costs around $4,500 today, with labor representing 75% of that cost. But those labor savings aren’t the only gains to be had from the adoption of driverless trucks.
Where drivers are restricted by law from driving more than 11 hours per day without taking an 8 hour break, a driverless truck can drive nearly 24 hours per day. That means the technology would effectively double the output of the U.S. transportation network at 25% of the cost.
And the savings become even more significant when you account for fuel efficiency gains. The optimal cruising speed from a fuel efficiency standpoint is around 45 miles per hour, whereas truckers who are paid by the mile will drive much faster. Further fuel efficiencies will be had as the self-driving fleets adopt platooning technologies like those from Peleton Technology, allowing trucks to draft behind one another in highway trains.
Trucking represents a considerable portion of the cost of all the goods we buy, so consumers everywhere will experience this change as lower prices and higher standards of living.
In addition, once the technology is mature enough to be rolled out commercially we will also enjoy considerable safety benefits. This year alone more people will be killed in traffic accidents involving trucks than in all domestic airline crashes in the last 45 years combined. At the same time, more truck drivers were killed on the job, 835, than workers in any other occupation in the U.S.
Even putting aside the direct safety risks, truck driving is a grueling job that young people don’t really want to do. The average age of a commercial driver is 55 and rising every year, with projected driver shortages that will create yet more incentive to adopt driverless technology in the years to come .
While the efficiency gains are real—too real to pass up—the technology will have tremendous adverse effects as well. There are currently over 1.6 million Americans working as truck drivers, making it the most common job in 29 states.
The loss of jobs representing 1% of the U.S. workforce will be a devastating blow to the economy. And the adverse consequences won’t end there. Gas stations, highway diners, rest stops, motels, and other businesses catering to drivers will struggle to survive without them.
Last week’s demonstration in Europe shows that driverless trucking is right around the corner. The primary remaining barriers are regulatory. We still need to create on- and off-ramps so that human drivers can bringtrucks to the freeways where highway autopilot can take over. We may also need dedicated lanes as slow-moving driverless trucks could be a hazard for drivers. These are big projects that can only be done with the active support of government. However, regulators will be understandably reluctant to allow technology with the potential eliminate so many jobs.
Yet the benefits from adopting it will be so huge that we can’t simply outlaw it. A 400% price-performance improvement in ground transportation networks will represent an incredible boost to human well-being. Where would we be if we had banned mechanized agriculture on the grounds that most Americans worked in farming when tractors and harvesters were introduced in the early 20th century?
This is actually very interesting especially for a country like ours.
Rail transport played a crucial role for our development from early settlers era.
But one can't escape the fact that air transport is faster and easier to build, operate and make profits.
You just need birds and a piece of pavement
At various points in American history railroads were vilified, over regulated, used and abused then cast aside like a cheap last call pick-up.
Railroads built this nation and played a *MAJOR* role during WWII where something like 80% of service men and women and nearly all material moved by rail. After the war RRs tried to get back to normal; new services were introduced and equipment purchased to replaced the old and worn out equipment from the war years. Steam was finally gotten rid of in favor of diesel, and so forth. All to no avail; the federal and local governments were firmly being the automobile and building up and out that infrastructure which is where resources went.
As passengers abandoned RRs for their personal vehicles and or airplanes you saw RRs going to the government hat in hand begging to get out of providing costly service that was killing them, but was very under used. Each time the ICC would deny again and again until either the RR went bankrupt and or that body finally relented. Most always the last was usually too late to save many RRs anyway.
Already mentioned upthread from the 1950's through well into the 1970's or later hundreds of miles of ROW were abandoned, torn up, and otherwise gotten rid of.
Fast forward to today where urban living is once again in fashion as white flight has reversed and places like the North East really could use more rail service. But putting back what once was ain't easy. Leaving aside the funding issues building a rail line today means all sorts of hurdles such as environmental studies that the RRs of the past never had to bother with.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
