Diesel Fuel Rationing?

[jigs_n_fixtures]

Rail has always been far more fuel efficient on a ton/unit of fuel basis. And those trucks have always done far more damage to the roadways than they pay for. Which means that we have been subsidizing the truckers, at the expense of the railroads. We really need to use trains for the long distance, and then move onto trucks for the”final mile”. UPS has done it that way for at least forty years.

 

[dirttoys]

I saw a presentation last fall from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad company. They are starting construction to double the number of tracks on transcontinental routes and are planning to offer 2 day freight service from west coast ports to Chicago. They claim that each train can deliver the same freight as 165 trucks and do it for 25% of the diesel fuel used by those 165 trucks. They made the claim that they would be the primary mover of transcontinental freight within a decade, and trucks would be more short haul delivery. Interesting. I think it’s a great solution. Let’s see if this happens. They also stated that the Union Pacific Railway was planning similar things on their routes.

If it is cost effective, it should pay out for the RR. I don't know what it is, but the RR's seem to have a knack of pissing away all their advantages. On paper I can see the upside.

Best,

ed

 

[dirttoys]

Rail has always been far more fuel efficient on a ton/unit of fuel basis. And those trucks have always done far more damage to the roadways than they pay for. Which means that we have been subsidizing the truckers, at the expense of the railroads. We really need to use trains for the long distance, and then move onto trucks for the”final mile”. UPS has done it that way for at least forty years.

I poked at another poster as well. The truckers feel like they pay their share plus some. I do see others claim truckers come out on the high side. My lite experience with bnsf living in an ag town in the mid west; they were confiscatorialy inflexible, and could careless about bankrupting a small town on a spur line.

There is clearly an efficiency gain for a train vs a truck at scale, however, if they will only show up with two cars, and only on a Wednesday, without regard to the customers needs, then I will pay the extra 3 cents a mile to a freight company that pretends to care.

I don't know if the trucks are under sir charged or not, but, I do know with JIT manufacturing and with only 12 hour stocking, we should probably develop an appreciation for them, at least for a year or two........


Best,

ed

 

[jyoutz]

I poked at another poster as well. The truckers feel like they pay their share plus some. I do see others claim truckers come out on the high side. My lite experience with bnsf living in an ag town in the mid west; they were confiscatorialy inflexible, and could careless about bankrupting a small town on a spur line.

There is clearly an efficiency gain for a train vs a truck at scale, however, if they will only show up with two cars, and only on a Wednesday, without regard to the customers needs, then I will pay the extra 3 cents a mile to a freight company that pretends to care.

I don't know if the trucks are under sir charged or not, but, I do know with JIT manufacturing and with only 12 hour stocking, we should probably develop an appreciation for them, at least for a year or two........


Best,

ed

The railroad was talking about mass transport of freight from the port cities to the Midwest freight depots, greatly reducing truck on the major east/west interstates like I-40, I-80…. They were not talking about replacing trucking from the major depots to the small towns and facilities. I drive I-40 daily and would welcome less trucks.

 

[mikester]

The struggle is real...

Nobody seems to remember ENRON and how they artificially created rolling blackouts so they could manipulate energy prices. Record profits. Big bonuses paid out.

I think the above message could be re-written as follows:
"Due to our ability to manipulate the market and use covid combined with russia's invasion of ukraine as an excuse to gouge our customers, we are going to restrict product delivery to create a false demand so we can artificially inflate prices to record levels disproportionate to the price of crude oil. Suck it up sunshine while I enjoy my newer and bigger bonus this year. Capitalism rocks!"

 

[Hay Dude]

Nobody seems to remember ENRON and how they artificially created rolling blackouts so they could manipulate energy prices. Record profits. Big bonuses paid out.

I think the above message could be re-written as follows:
"Due to our ability to manipulate the market and use covid combined with russia's invasion of ukraine as an excuse to gouge our customers, we are going to restrict product delivery to create a false demand so we can artificially inflate prices to record levels disproportionate to the price of crude oil. Suck it up sunshine while I enjoy my newer and bigger bonus this year. Capitalism rocks!"

And look what happened to Enron. Toast.
Can you prove this is happening right now? I’m actually sure it could happen, but dont know it is happening.
Your cynical remark about “capitalism” is political in nature and belongs in another forum. Although it’s nowhere near perfect, I’ll take it with guardrails over any other system.

 

[Black Dog 2]

Thought this was interesting: NYC Billionaire Catsimatidis Warns of Looming East Coast Diesel Rationing

I went to fill up my Ram 2500 5.9 cummins last week at a Walmart near Chattanooga. The pump stopped at 20 gallons, about 10 less than I wanted. fjb.

 

[Tony H]

And this Administration just cancelled another Land Lease for domestic fuel companies.
Forcing electric down our throats whether we low-cut or not.
Land of the Free or Land of the manipulated?

 

[5030]

Good excuse to stay home.

...and tiddle around with the better half.

 

[5030]

I suspect the supposed 'rationing' will become self imposed as we get deeper into the recession. If you don't have the jack to buy it (diesel or gasoline), you won't. Real simple economics.