Why Rail Transportation Is A Great Way To Ship

In this modern day of ipads, smart phones and electric cars, some people could consider rail transportation as outdated. But that’s far from the truth.

The fact is that rail transportation is actually one of the most efficient and cost effective ways to ship your products.

There are a couple of reasons why rail transportation is a better way to ship.

With the economy headed into an upswing there is a major negative side effect that can throw your shipping plans into mayhem. Growth in the economy often causes a shortage of over the road drivers. The pool of drivers shrank when the economy was down. Many of those drivers were forced to take other jobs. So with a shrunken over the road driver pool, it can be challenging to get over the road transportation when you want it and at a decent price.

Another factor is efficiency of transport. The fact is that rail is much more efficient than over the road. The maximum gross weight of an over the road tractor trailer is 80,000 pounds. Out of that only 45,000 pounds of product are being moved by each truck.

When you look at the capacity of a rail box car, the maximum gross weight is 186,000 pounds. That allows you to move 180,000 pounds of your product. That one rail box car is the equivalent of 4 trucks on the road.

Another factor that tips the scales in favor of rail transportation is fairly simple, reliability. When you depend on over the road transportation there are a lot of variables that can affect the reliability of your transport. Weather and accidents in transport are two facts that are much more likely to delay over the road transportation than they are likely to affect rail transportation.

Rail transportation is also able to travel at much faster rates of speed than can be achieved over the road. The advantage of high speed over long distances can make a huge difference in the ability to meet urgent shipping schedules.

Rail is also over three times as fuel efficient as the road. While you don’t pay the fuel bills directly, you will benefit from the lower costs because those expenses are passed along to you. So don’t underestimate the value of those savings.

So the next time you’re evaluating rail transportation as an option, consider these factors and we’re sure you’ll agree that rail transportation is a great way to ship.