This whole thing reminds me of the Johnny Cash Song "Rock Island Lines" with the "Toll Bridge". We saw how THAT ended....
Practice Safe CSX
Ohio Turnpike Commission and... railways?
Our of curiosity, how is this going to work between states? I mean, if Ohio does it you are going to have to get PA on board, and Indiana. Indiana will have to get Illinois on Board, etc etc etc.
You are talking about a new nationwide network that is going to have to compete head to head with companies that have been doing this for 150 years. They (the railroads) could just undercut the rates for anyone who wants to use the service to avoid the competition. Forget about using existing routes, the railroads would never allow it. Too much liability of having Billy Joe Bob of Billy Joe Bob's cartage running a train. Heck, most railroads don't even like another Class I railroads' crews on their tracks!
Again, increased capacity in certain corridors would go a long way to alleviating congestion and transit times. Again, make service RELIABLE and shippers will use it. It doesn't have to be the fastest service, just reliable. If you want it FAST, you fly it (and pay the price). You want reliably, you truck it (and pay the price). If you don't care when it gets there, just that it does, it goes by train. Cars are rolling storage for most factories (look at plastic pellet companies). Get RELIABLE schedules and RELIABLE service and you will capture from the trucks. Again, you don't need to relay the entire rail network from the ground up to do this.
Finally, line cuts were made because the on-line business didn't justify them being kept. With the flood of our manufacturing jobs ELSEWHERE (China, Mexico, etc) the demand for large volume shipments isn't there anymore. Until we get a fundamental policy shift from Corporate Greed and a "Global Economy" and back to making a strong US Economy the prospects for large scale industrial development don't look good.
Practice Safe CSX
You are talking about a new nationwide network that is going to have to compete head to head with companies that have been doing this for 150 years. They (the railroads) could just undercut the rates for anyone who wants to use the service to avoid the competition. Forget about using existing routes, the railroads would never allow it. Too much liability of having Billy Joe Bob of Billy Joe Bob's cartage running a train. Heck, most railroads don't even like another Class I railroads' crews on their tracks!
Again, increased capacity in certain corridors would go a long way to alleviating congestion and transit times. Again, make service RELIABLE and shippers will use it. It doesn't have to be the fastest service, just reliable. If you want it FAST, you fly it (and pay the price). You want reliably, you truck it (and pay the price). If you don't care when it gets there, just that it does, it goes by train. Cars are rolling storage for most factories (look at plastic pellet companies). Get RELIABLE schedules and RELIABLE service and you will capture from the trucks. Again, you don't need to relay the entire rail network from the ground up to do this.
Finally, line cuts were made because the on-line business didn't justify them being kept. With the flood of our manufacturing jobs ELSEWHERE (China, Mexico, etc) the demand for large volume shipments isn't there anymore. Until we get a fundamental policy shift from Corporate Greed and a "Global Economy" and back to making a strong US Economy the prospects for large scale industrial development don't look good.
Practice Safe CSX