What would I do? (part 2)
March 26th, 2007 |Bill makes a good point in reference to my gas tax post:
one problem with an otherwise good idea. everything we consume is brought to the market in a truck, raise the tax on the eighteen wheelers and we will pay higher costs on those goods thus negating our savings.
A good point except for the fact that I am already way ahead of him!
I would ban trucks from being able to cross more than one state line in a 48 hour period. This would force the overwhelming majority of shipping that is done by truck to be moved to the railroad.
I am sure that this would not make the truck drivers and their unions happy but I don’t care. There is no reason, other than to provide truck drivers with jobs, for the amount of shipping that is done on our roadways as opposed to the rail network.
Here are some facts about rail shipping:
• Railroads are three times more fuel-efficient than trucks. If just 10 percent of the freight moved by highway were diverted to rail, the nation could save as much as 200 million gallons of fuel each year.
• Railroad fuel efficiency has increased by 72 percent since 1980.
• The EPA estimates that for every ton-mile, a typical truck emits roughly three times more nitrogen oxides and particulates than a locomotive.
• According to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, if ten percent of intercity freight now moving by highway were shifted to rail, 2.5 million fewer tons of carbon dioxide would be emitted into the air annually.
Moving freight from the roads to rails for long distance shipping is not just cheaper and more efficient. It would also make our roadways much safer by removing the need for the majority of the oversized vehicles that currently clog our highway and interstate system.
Trucks would still be necessary to transports goods from the rail hub to the final destination.
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