The decline of railroads from the dominant position they once held as the only source of freight transport took many years, the recovery of much of that business will also take a long time, but the implications for our rail infrastructure are enormous.
Long-distance trucking begn in the years immediately following World War I, and most of the major players at the high-water mark of regulated trucking (c. 1970) could trace their origins to that time. Most began by seeking (and gaining, to the point of near-total domination) relatively small shipments of high-value freight -- the name "Roadway Express" was a takeoff on the old Railway Express Agency.
But it seems that no sooner was the concrete dry on the newly-completed Interstate Highway System than the agitation for deregulation began in the late 1970's, and the rail industry quickly got on the bandwagon. The hundreds of local motor carriers, supported by arrangements for interchange, dwindled to a handful of super-carriers.
At the same time, pressures from many drivers for a system of scheduling that allowed more flexibility than the regular-route relay-based system dominant until 1980 gave rise to the irregular-route carrier such as Schneider, Werner, J B Hunt, etc. The growth of regionally-based "distribution centers" used by the mega-retailers also tended to base more dispatching on an out-and-back pattern of 600 miles or less.
To summarize, the pendulum has swung back to the advantage of the railroads for the very long haul, although the reduction in size of the average shipment likely implies that containers, rather than 100-ton separable cars, will become the vehicle of choice. The groundwork to regain much transcontinental perishable traffic, driven pramirily by a dearth of qualified and responsible drivers, is in progress, and I believe we could see the day when almost all shipments over 600 miles will move primarily by rail.
Last edited by 2nd trick op on Tue Jun 05, 2007 12:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
What a revoltin' development this is! (William Bendix)