Maine Drivers Slowing Down (Augusta, Warren: home, taxes, live)

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Somebody at the national level needs to wake up to some pretty basic logistical facts. I guess it's up to an engineer to point out some fundamentals. Owner operators are slowing down to save money on fuel.

The law allows only so many hours on the road for drivers. Most trucks run with single drivers, not teams. To drive 100,000 miles at 75 MPH takes 1,333 hours. To run 100,000 miles at 65 MPH takes 1,538 hours. That is 15% more time to deliver the same product. Our country needs 15% more trucks and 15% more drivers to do the same job. At the same time we need more trucks we are losing over 4,000 trucks a week out of our national fleet. As fast as the banks repossess trucks they sell them to Russia who just cut taxes on fuel. Russia particularly wants logging trucks.

Wake up America.

[dmyankee]

So correct!

Am I right in thinking that the Russian Republik recently awarded their oil company a "corporate welfare," subsidy of $40 billion? (read: TAX BREAK!)

Even they realized that a free enterprise system unleashed to do it's thing will grow an economy and prosper!

...unlike the socialist weirdos in congress lately advocating nationalization of the "Big Oil" companies. Exxon Mobile makes maybe 10 cents per gallon. Big Government makes 30-50 cents or more!

Wake up all right, there's plenty of coal, offshore and Arctic oil to keep us going for a few hundred years. We need NUKES for electricity.

For all I care, we can develop the geothermal energy under Yellowstone National Park! That place is nothing more than a petting zoo for moonbats!

[RANGER.101ST]

being a truck driver who had to sell out becouse of fuel prices i can tell you from exp.
most trucks on the road have been nuetured so they only go 62-65 mph top speed.
the trucks that are cut back are suposto burn less fuel.this is where it gets tricky.
yes a cutback truck does in fact burn less fuel than one that isnt.(ON FLAT GOING)
take them same to trucks and put them in the hills and mountians and the one that isnt cut back isnt working so hard and will burn 12-15% less.the one that is cut back hasnt got the power to keep his RPM up so he has to down shift and depending on how hilly the road is thats all he does down shift and up shift.take my truck for instance it had a 500 cat with an 18 speed once i was on the hiway i all most never had to shift.
a truck that has been cut thats all they do.so when some one tells you less is more that isnt allways true.

[BacktoNE]

Instead of putting more trucks on the road, and therefore the potential for more tired truck drivers, how about following Warren Buffets thinking and returning to rail service to move food across the country? The roads would be somewhat safer and trains can move a lot more product in one trip.


Now, before anyone jumps on me. I'm not saying that ALL truck drivers are dangerous, but I've had just a few too many close calls in my life to ever feel safe near 18-wheelers when I'm on the highway. From my perspective (and only mine) I'd rather see fewer trucks and a lot more trains.

[dmyankee]

If rail is profitable, it will fly. Traditionally, in an economic slowdown, more freight moves by truck. I'm not sure why.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

In a normal slowdown, delivery times are more critical because businesses carry lower stock levels. When they are out of an item they need it in a hurry. We already have rail car shortages. Grain futures are through the roof because farmers in the midwest have fields too muddy to plant and they just had another flood this week. They will be up against a frost before they harvest IF they can harvest at all this year.

[RANGER.101ST]

rail is used to get freight to mostly the city's but you still need truck's to get the freight from the rail.then you need to find freight for the rail back to its home base.if a traine caries freight one way and nothing the otherthey loose money.its cheaper for a truck to dead head than a traine.its all about the botom line what is more profetable.
take a traine for instance you load the freight on thats 1 payment, for some one to load it
then you ship it that's 2 payments, once it get's to it's destonation you need to offload it and load it on to a truck that's 3, now that its on the truck you need to pay for shiping thats 4, once the truck gets to it's destonation you need to unload it thats payment 5.
now with a truck you have loading 1, shiping 2 ,unloading 3 .time is money

[RANGER.101ST]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

In a normal slowdown, delivery times are more critical because businesses carry lower stock levels. When they are out of an item they need it in a hurry. We already have rail car shortages. Grain futures are through the roof because farmers in the midwest have fields too muddy to plant and they just had another flood this week. They will be up against a frost before they harvest IF they can harvest at all this year.

its going to rase food prices this winter.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by dmyankee

So correct!

Am I right in thinking that the Russian Republik recently awarded their oil company a "corporate welfare," subsidy of $40 billion? (read: TAX BREAK!)

Even they realized that a free enterprise system unleashed to do it's thing will grow an economy and prosper!

...unlike the socialist weirdos in congress lately advocating nationalization of the "Big Oil" companies. Exxon Mobile makes maybe 10 cents per gallon. Big Government makes 30-50 cents or more!

Wake up all right, there's plenty of coal, offshore and Arctic oil to keep us going for a few hundred years. We need NUKES for electricity.

For all I care, we can develop the geothermal energy under Yellowstone National Park! That place is nothing more than a petting zoo for moonbats!

A fellow Howie Carr fan!

[dmyankee]

Originally Posted by Maineah

A fellow Howie Carr fan!

I resemble that remark!

We drove up to Rockwood yesterday. Along the Moose River was about 50 Egrets (?) in the tall trees, eyeballing the river for a free meal.

Looked just like the Augusta Legislature!!!