Keep an eye on the larger railroads (construction job, employees, owner)
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Railroading isn't for everyone, but it's pretty good money. The larger class 1 rr's are calling employees back off furlogh and are expected to resume hiring later this summer. Just keep an eye on websites(up, bnsf, csx). Even if hired and laid off shortly after training, at least you'll have an established seniority date.
Maybe it's blasphemous to say since I'm a trucker, but I think the U.S.A. SHOULD have a better railroad infrastructure. We should be working hard to improve our intermodal capabilities. Granted, there will always be cases where a truck (especially with team drivers) will be the better option for moving loads (Just-in-time, air freight, etc.) but it's getting harder and harder to find truck drivers willing to go from load to load and live in sleeper cabs for weeks on end. Granted, you'll still have to have the "last mile" traveled by a truck pulling the trailer or container. But it may cut down somewhat on truck traffic. I'm guessing that railroad right-of-way maintenance is cheaper than road repairs (If nothing else, it'd reduce the number of orange barrels on our roads...)
Maybe Warren Buffet is on to something with his purchase of the Burlington Northern Railroad...
Thanks, Sirron! That's probably not the official position of the American Trucking Associations, but it's a reality that trucking interests have already moved towards. Much of the Southwest-Chicago freight my company moves is via rail to the rail head. Yeah, some of our long haul trucking teams lose miles. But I think there are still plenty of ways to earn a good living behind the wheel of a truck and still have a better railroad infrastructure.
Yeah, maybe I should've gone into railroading; there sure are a lot more railroad than trucking magazines on the newsstand...
Maybe it's blasphemous to say since I'm a trucker, but I think the U.S.A. SHOULD have a better railroad infrastructure. We should be working hard to improve our intermodal capabilities. Granted, there will always be cases where a truck (especially with team drivers) will be the better option for moving loads (Just-in-time, air freight, etc.) but it's getting harder and harder to find truck drivers willing to go from load to load and live in sleeper cabs for weeks on end. Granted, you'll still have to have the "last mile" traveled by a truck pulling the trailer or container. But it may cut down somewhat on truck traffic. I'm guessing that railroad right-of-way maintenance is cheaper than road repairs (If nothing else, it'd reduce the number of orange barrels on our roads...)
Maybe Warren Buffet is on to something with his purchase of the Burlington Northern Railroad...
Yeah I agree, my future step-father was a trucker and even he is wanting to go towards the rail...but I am really interested in the future of freight transport....in Europe their system is so efficient do they even use trucks for long distance travel?? Trains seem to be the future but our rails need vast repair...with the amount of accidents that have occurred due to old rail systems it's time for a complete rehaul(AKA construction jobs hopefully) but it's one thing to look forward to in this awful recession
The use of railroad to move freight is only goign to grow as fuel cost continue to rise and infrastructure of the highways gets more and more expensive to maintain. Its alos will be hrtu bu more roads paid for by useage fees and even more toll roads. I think railroads future is in carying freight not passengers.They are very efficent at doing that especailly as feight cost rise.
Too bad so many RR tracks ( right of ways) got abandoned , the ties and tracks removed, and the ownership of the land turned over to county/state bike trails.
In rural Minnesota you see more converted bike trails than actual RR tracks.
Yeah I agree, my future step-father was a trucker and even he is wanting to go towards the rail...but I am really interested in the future of freight transport....in Europe their system is so efficient do they even use trucks for long distance travel?? Trains seem to be the future but our rails need vast repair...with the amount of accidents that have occurred due to old rail systems it's time for a complete rehaul(AKA construction jobs hopefully) but it's one thing to look forward to in this awful recession
GABison2007, Europe has an excellent intermodal infrastructure. And, yes, they use trucks for long haul trips. They even carry slightly more weight than our largest trucks do (more axles and different spacing) The big difference is that Europe is a lot smaller than the U.S. is; you can get into a car in Holland and be deep into Italy on the second day of driving.
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) but it's one thing to look forward to in this awful recession
