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I’ve seen them there are far less of them than your conventional semi truck loading docks. Semi trucks will never go away my daughter drives for a large supermarket that also sells other things like Walmart is. They have a huge fleet of semi trucks just as Walmart has. Right now there is a huge shortage of professional big rig drivers out there. Trains can go so far and most companies are not going to have a location right next to a rail line. I’ve also seen large freighter ships off load coal and iron ore directly into a dock of a power plant or iron ore for a steel mill. I’ve seen everything when it comes to docks, when i worked for Chrysler there was a train that unload right inside the plant, but there were also semi trucks delivering to the plant also. So big rigs and trains work hand in hand. We’re i live i see ships unloading steel at the docks in Detroit fo the big3, to trains picking up new cars fron the assembly plants, to semi trucks delivering the steel from the docks to the stamping plants. And when the trains get to the yard to unload vehicles semi trucks are there to transport them to their storage yard, same as when ships unload vehicles that are imported from overseas semi trucks haul them away from the port of entry.
care to square all that "business loading dock" comment away with what you wrote in response #45? you wrote:
"I’ve never seen a train backed up at a business loading dock have you lol lol"
Never seen a train in a loading dock but next to the building dock horizontally , never vertically backed up like a semi with a dock plate.
I have ... On rail siding spurs where a "yard jockey" small locomotive backed in a bulk cargo carrier to a manufacturer who either owned or leased the rail car for a dedicated product use. Usually a petrochemical that was stored on-site in the rail car. Have seen this at a paint manufacturer and a fertilizer plant, but not limited to these applications. Also a semi-trailer unloading site where the business had one rail car backed into their building to load/unload in a secure facility.
I have ... On rail siding spurs where a "yard jockey" small locomotive backed in a bulk cargo carrier to a manufacturer who either owned or leased the rail car for a dedicated product use. Usually a petrochemical that was stored on-site in the rail car. Have seen this at a paint manufacturer and a fertilizer plant, but not limited to these applications. Also a semi-trailer unloading site where the business had one rail car backed into their building to load/unload in a secure facility.
That’s news to me never seen it, and my wife x husband is a conductor for the CN railroad will have to ask him if i ever see him again, he works in Chicago witch is a main hub for the railroad industry just about everything comes from the Chicago area.
My question for drivers, what effect on the trucking business is the railroads and the container industry have? Is it more cost effective to use trucks rather than rail? Granted, some locations are not serviced to railroads and getting to certain locations ( ie Walmart stores) would require more location delivery. But what about transcontinental routes. Just asking. Thank you!
BTW, I don't envy you in your job. I have a hard enough time parking my '05 DeVille Cadillac. LOL
Most of what you see on rails has originated overseas. From the ship some of it goes onto the train to a special Intermodal Shipping Station. There, it is loaded onto a special trailer and driven to final destination.
There are thousands and thousands of manufacturers and warehouses all over the US who do not have access to rails. They rely on trucks.
I drove 750,000 miles from '05 to '10. I'm glad I got a chance to do it and glad I don't have to do it anymore. I retired in '10.
Most of what you see on rails has originated overseas. From the ship some of it goes onto the train to a special Intermodal Shipping Station. There, it is loaded onto a special trailer and driven to final destination.
There are thousands and thousands of manufacturers and warehouses all over the US who do not have access to rails. They rely on trucks.
I drove 750,000 miles from '05 to '10. I'm glad I got a chance to do it and glad I don't have to do it anymore. I retired in '10.
You are correct my brother was a owner operator for 25 years he had 5 trucks he made a decent living and he has seen this great country from the east coast to the west coast including Canada. His biggest customers were in the Detroit area he was a steel hauler so his customers were the big 3. But he would also haul molds for other stamping companies all over the country. He has been is some loading docks that other trucks would not attempt. Chicago was a huge customer base for his company also there are lots of huge warehouses and manufacturing companies located there. And now my oldest daughter drives semi for Meijer here in the metro Detroit area good union job my brother got her interested in trucking years ago. And now there is a huge shortage of truck drivers in this country.
What has changed since this thread started 6 years ago is all the new regulations the Obama administration has come up with. Truck drivers are furious. It is really cutting into their livelihoods. You have to sleep this long, sleep at these times and drive this long. I think several times a week they can't drive from 1am to 5am or that they must get enough sleep. How do you make sure someone is sleeping? NAs. Sleeping police, of course.
What has changed since this thread started 6 years ago is all the new regulations the Obama administration has come up with. Truck drivers are furious. It is really cutting into their livelihoods. You have to sleep this long, sleep at these times and drive this long. I think several times a week they can't drive from 1am to 5am or that they must get enough sleep. How do you make sure someone is sleeping? NAs. Sleeping police, of course.
I talk to truck drivers just about everyday at our business. Last week one was telling me of the new logging computers that trucks will have to install. He said lots of guys he talked to cant really afford to install these things. Doing away with written log books. You know the two books, the one you keep to show the man if stopped, and the real one you use. Thats coming to an end. If stopped, the highway state trooper can log in and see how long you have been on the road, and when you stopped to sleep. Times are changing.
I talk to truck drivers just about everyday at our business. Last week one was telling me of the new logging computers that trucks will have to install. He said lots of guys he talked to cant really afford to install these things. Doing away with written log books. You know the two books, the one you keep to show the man if stopped, and the real one you use. Thats coming to an end. If stopped, the highway state trooper can log in and see how long you have been on the road, and when you stopped to sleep. Times are changing.
Yep my daughters company has electronic log books.
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