Hauling heavy equipment across highways and back roads can be a problem due to traffic and the weight limits on certain bridges. Finding a route from point A to point B can be difficult. However, there is another option.
Using railroad systems can get heavy equipment to its destination faster. There are a lot more railway systems in the United States than most people believe there to be. There are many more benefits to heavy equipment haulers utilizing a railway system, rather than just truck freight.
Cost
Railroads are often less expensive than road hauls due to the volume and distance economies. The more regular and frequent the movements are, the lower the cost will be, but this applies to the total industry use rather than just one company’s movements. One container or pallet could still be cost-effective on a railway if it can be fitted onto a train that is making a run anyway.
The fundamental economics of rail freight are that cost is able to be reduced when the whole trainload is able to be consigned, or when a train can be chartered by different shippers who are working in tandem. These economies of scale make rails cheaper over a wider range of routes.
Reliability
Rails are reliable because they have less opportunity to be affected by traffic or the weather. Most rail systems are back up and running when roads are still covered in snow and ice. Therefore, they are much more reliable than shipping with truck freight in the winter, which makes heavy equipment haulers more reliable.
Speed
Trains can run at a much faster speed than a truck without the risk of damaging equipment. Some of them are able to reach speeds of seventy-five miles per hour, which is a lot faster than truck freight.
Environment
In the United Kingdom over the past two years, it is estimated that two million tons of pollutants have been eliminated by replacing 31.5 million truck freight journeys with rail freight instead. Due to the sheer quantity a train is able to take on and the energy-efficient nature of its transportation mode, rail services provide a lot more carbon savings compared to road freight transport.
This is even true for diesel engines, which form the majority of railway engines, but it’s even more so if the trains are electric. Where an electric train is able to run, the emissions at point of use are almost zero, and the total pollution footprint is reduced.
Every ton of freight that is carried by rail produces at least 80% less carbon dioxide than if it was moved by a road method. When compared to carrying the same tonnage as roads, rails produce less than a tenth of the carbon monoxide.
Moving heavy equipment by railway freight is cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and fast.
