Zoomie1980
Senior Member
- Jan 16, 2008
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I had to double check that this claim was not accurate.
Highways
■ Over 90% of the products made or shipped in the US travel on the nation's highways and bridges.
■ 74% of goods shipped in the US are transported exclusively by trucks.
■ There are over 160,000 miles of major roads that need resurfacing or reconstruction.
■ Currently, there is a $325.4 billion backlog of economic highway and bridge projectswaiting to be completed.
■ Road congestion cost the US economy about $63.1 billion in 2003.
■ Trucks carry three quarters of the value of freight shipped in the United States and twothirds of the weight.
■ Trucks moved more than $6.2 trillion and 7.8 billion tons of manufactured goods and rawmaterials in 2002.
■ Trucks are expected to move more than 75% more tons of freight in 2020.
Link
In term of total weight of all goods, true. But in terms of ton-miles trucks move 32% and trains move 28%, but in terms of bulk ton miles, trains move 72% of the ton-miles of that. That's things like ore, and bulk grains (ag products) and chemicals. Trucks still have to move it from rail ramps to final destinations.
But the big reason rail business is growing and truck business declining is trains remove the congestion trucks have brought to interstate highways, burn diesel far more efficiently per ton mile than trucks (much "greener") and the big kicker, rails pay for all their own "highways".