benefits of rail
Transportation Savings
Transportation Savings
Transportation Savings
- 10-20% savings per ton over truck
- One ton of rail freight can move 470 miles on one gallon of fuel
- A rail car is the equivalent of up to four 18-wheel tractor trailers
- Rail prices are 40% more stable than truck as rail capacity and pricing is less susceptible to the volatility swings of truck pricing and capacity
Access to Capacity
Transportation Savings
Transportation Savings
- A railcar moves over 4 times that of a long-haul tractor trailer
- Railcars come in commodity specific types to minimize packaging and handling
- Railroads pool cars to provide capacity and optionality to move goods
- Rail can be paired with short haul truck to provide additional optionality for shippers
Environment / Sustainability
Environment / Sustainability
Environment / Sustainability
- Railroads are 4x more fuel-efficient than long-haul trucks
- Rail produces 75% less greenhouse gas than truck
- Greenhouse gas emissions would fall 17 million tons if 10% of the long-haul truck freight shifted to rail
- Long-haul trucks cause 99% of wear-and-tear on US roads, but only pay for 35% of their maintenance
Better Jobs
Environment / Sustainability
Environment / Sustainability
- The average compensation of a railroad worker is almost 2x the national average
- Every railroad job generates eight local supporting jobs - often in industries using rail
- Rail enables competitive industry which pays 13% higher than average in hourly wages
- Jobs from rail supported business are 10-25% more stable than jobs from equivalent non-rail supported businesses
