Realizing that some have yet to figure out what inter modal is, much less how it works, the idea of economics is greater than meets the eye. There is another side to inter modal that some main stream journalist have yet to figure out, too. Sure, articles have appeared about the tank car problem shipping oil via the rail. The accident-grabbing articles of print and visual media on the subject are beginning to pile up in the search engines. Yet, not a single one that I can find have made mention of the flammable and dangerous gas materials that ship over ground transport and end up on the rail. In other words, no one has paid any attention to the fact that danger as great or greater than the tank car problem moves over the rails every hour of ever day with hazardous material placards on the end and sides of the trucks anchored down on inter modal rail cars.
The danger is real. The risk is not as bad as one might think but there is risk and danger none-the-less. The US Department of Transportation Haz-Mat List and Codes are easy enough to look up on the web site. In fact there is a HazMat Code List.pdf file on the site also.
The First Cherry
For the sake of argument, let's say that a trucking company's rates are $1.50 per mile. The rail road sends its cars down the rail for $1.00 per mile. If the trucks can go the distance on what we once called Piggy-Back shipments, then the trucking firm profits $0.50 per mile or they have reduced their cost by the same amount. It makes no difference except in accounting methods. There is also something else to consider. By using inter modal or flatbed piggy backing trailers, you have meet your competitions rate-per-mile for most of the distance. So the advantage can work for the majors as well as the smaller businesses. It also enables companies like Target and Walmart to bring their goods to their stores at a lower price. In short. Inter modal shipments-which can include piggy-backing- are here to stay on the landscape of commerce.
Today, I found five major trucking firms, including freight forwarding Moguls like FedEx and UPS along with Roadway, J.B. Hunt, KLLM and two frozen food plants with reefers on the same inter modal train makeup. It must be remembered that shipping containers can ship via rail and truck both and inter modal trains are stacking containers two high per car. That is the beauty of inter modal cars and it also reduces cost even more.
The Second Cherry
On several of the FedEx Pigs, the HazMat Code Placards flashed red for flammable and also for Danger on materials with gas. Learning to look for these placards when you are sitting at a crossing instead of listening to your favorite tune and zoning out as the train rolls by could save your life. In being aware of your surroundings also includes things like this, especially in the world that we live in today.
The Third Cherry
The last cherry to roll up was something like a stroke of luck of being in the right place at the right time Had I been on the back side of the train, with the No Trespassing signs posted, I would not have been able to get the shots that I got. Instead, by the luck of fate I was on the public street side of the tracks and had an interesting perspective of light and angles. Here are a couple of shots to support this article.
The danger is real. The risk is not as bad as one might think but there is risk and danger none-the-less. The US Department of Transportation Haz-Mat List and Codes are easy enough to look up on the web site. In fact there is a HazMat Code List.pdf file on the site also.
The First Cherry
For the sake of argument, let's say that a trucking company's rates are $1.50 per mile. The rail road sends its cars down the rail for $1.00 per mile. If the trucks can go the distance on what we once called Piggy-Back shipments, then the trucking firm profits $0.50 per mile or they have reduced their cost by the same amount. It makes no difference except in accounting methods. There is also something else to consider. By using inter modal or flatbed piggy backing trailers, you have meet your competitions rate-per-mile for most of the distance. So the advantage can work for the majors as well as the smaller businesses. It also enables companies like Target and Walmart to bring their goods to their stores at a lower price. In short. Inter modal shipments-which can include piggy-backing- are here to stay on the landscape of commerce.
Today, I found five major trucking firms, including freight forwarding Moguls like FedEx and UPS along with Roadway, J.B. Hunt, KLLM and two frozen food plants with reefers on the same inter modal train makeup. It must be remembered that shipping containers can ship via rail and truck both and inter modal trains are stacking containers two high per car. That is the beauty of inter modal cars and it also reduces cost even more.
The Second Cherry
On several of the FedEx Pigs, the HazMat Code Placards flashed red for flammable and also for Danger on materials with gas. Learning to look for these placards when you are sitting at a crossing instead of listening to your favorite tune and zoning out as the train rolls by could save your life. In being aware of your surroundings also includes things like this, especially in the world that we live in today.
The Third Cherry
The last cherry to roll up was something like a stroke of luck of being in the right place at the right time Had I been on the back side of the train, with the No Trespassing signs posted, I would not have been able to get the shots that I got. Instead, by the luck of fate I was on the public street side of the tracks and had an interesting perspective of light and angles. Here are a couple of shots to support this article.
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| Pigs from both FedEx and UPS with the red placard on the end of the FedEx trailer. This is the prize finding a UPS and a FedEx end-on-end on the same train make up with the HazMat placard as a bonus. |
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| The shipping contaner for JB Hunt can take another container of the same length on top unless it is marked for no stackers. |
