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Pages 89-105

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From page 89... ... This section examines how business location and urban land development patterns are systematically moving toward a dispersion of activities that tends to favor highway shipping and disfavor rail shipping. This helps to explain what is already known -- that truck is growing faster than rail as a mode for freight movements. Read the entire page →
From page 90... ... Conducted first in 1992 and then in 1997, the CFS is the nation's primary and most comprehensive federal data source on domestic freight movement. Earlier commodity surveys were conducted between 1962 and 1982, but data for 1982 were not published. Read the entire page →
From page 91... ... 5.3 Role of Trucks in Congestion This section provides data illustrating how truck traffic is a major contributor to overall roadway traffic, in addition to passenger cars. As more roadways approach full capacity, the incremental impact of trucks on congestion delays is also rising. Read the entire page →
From page 92... ... and high truck volumes (average daily truck traffic over 10,000 trucks) Read the entire page →
From page 93... ... Freight diversion and public investment decision models, discussed in later chapters of this report, build on this type of information. 5.4.1 Rates of Freight Growth In general, population growth and economic activity growth are commonly viewed as key factors determining freight demand growth. Read the entire page →
From page 94... ... In most weight classes, there was faster growth in value than in tons or ton-miles, implying a shift toward higher value shipments. In all weight classes, there was also faster growth in ton-miles than in total tons, implying a shift toward longer average distance for freight movements. Read the entire page →
From page 95... ... of Figure 5-17. Using the same database and the same study period as the prior two figures, this figure shows profiles of total value, total tonnage, and total ton-miles by distance class: • The very short distance class of deliveries (0–99 miles) Read the entire page →
From page 96... ... 5.5 Business Location Trends This section examines how business location and urban land development patterns are systematically moving toward a dispersion of activities within urbanized areas that in many (but not all) cases serves to favor highway shipping and disfavor rail shipping. Read the entire page →
From page 97... ... national rail freight network has clearly identifiable hubs in Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cleveland and other cities. Read the entire page →
From page 98... ... Today, we see that the evolution of business location and freight movement patterns has caused a shift toward increasing dispersion of business locations. This is evident at two different spatial levels. Read the entire page →
From page 99... ... Figure 5-21. Rail Freight Network. Read the entire page →
From page 100... ... Altogether, these trends and examples illustrate the need for any economically realistic analysis of rail freight diversion to focus clearly on differentiating commodity markets and then focus on those most conducive to increasing use of rail freight options. 5.5.4 Land Development Trends While industrial locations are dispersing across the country, localized development is being concentrated in built-up parts of metropolitan areas. Read the entire page →
From page 101... ... Recently, as the railroad industry transitioned from the boxcar age to the intermodal age, Chicago's many classification yards were re-cast as intermodal yards in a series of widely documented schemes. Union Pacific's recent effort to focus its resources on growing the intermodal business has seen the construction of Global III, a dedicated intermodal facility, at Rochelle, Illinois, about 80 miles from The Loop. Read the entire page →
From page 102... ... 5.6 Technology Trends This section identifies examples of technology trends affecting the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of both rail and truck to serve freight movements. Technology trends clearly have great significance for the determination of economic feasibility of truck to rail freight diversion. Read the entire page →
From page 103... ... Double-stack trains almost halved the cost of intermodal operations, making it much more competitive with road-based transport -- to the extent that the majority of marine import freight today travels by train. The three-level automobile racks made much more effective use of train capacity while protecting the cargo (compared to finished automobiles carried on flatcars) Read the entire page →
From page 104... ... Goods distribution and supply chains have become based more on a "totally connected network" than a "hub-and-spoke network," and the network itself has begun to define the business enterprise. New forms of knowledge-based specialization have occurred, where design may take place in one location, production in several others, and assembly in a third. Read the entire page →
From page 105... ... Pull Logistics Figure 5-28. Urban Development Pattern in Chicago Relative to Rail Lines. Read the entire page →

From page 89...

... This section examines how business location and urban land development patterns are systematically moving toward a dispersion of activities that tends to favor highway shipping and disfavor rail shipping. This helps to explain what is already known -- that truck is growing faster than rail as a mode for freight movements.