There are a lot of benefits when your company ships by rail over the other land based freight modes, such as truck. Because railroads were built during the Industrial Revolution, U. S. saw a significant amount of economic growth to a country only 50 years old. The country became prosperous due to the creation of the first transcontinental railroad that united the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads linking the east and west. Over a century and a half later, railroads are still providing a huge impact to the economies of cities all over the world.
Railroads created a viable transport network that takes manufactured goods and farm commodities to market: faster cheaper and flexible than previous freight modes. To this day, these advantages are still applicable to customers using railroads to ship their commodities. Today’s railroads have multiple equipment choices that can accommodate a limitless variety of commodities and manufactured goods.
Today’s railroads operate 24/7 over 140,000 miles of track and often through extreme weather. The industry’s ability to overcome obstacles through advanced technology is another great benefit. Railroads infrastructure is in the best condition in its history, allowing for faster, longer trains. On average one rail car has the same volume as four trucks. This help keep the environment clean and our highways less congested and safe.
There are usually 100 rail cars in a train. That’s 400 less trucks on our roadways per one train. Shipping more cargo by rail also saves billions of gallons in fuel. The railroad can ship one ton of goods, 467 miles on one gallon of fuel. These reasons are why railroads have stayed resilient throughout history.