Trucks, Rails Sharing More Long-Haul Moves

ruckload carriers, facing rapidly rising costs for equipment, fuel and drivers, are taking more trailers and cargo containers off the highway and putting them onto railroads in response to moves by rail carriers to expand capacity and provide faster, more reliable service.

The result is an unprecedented surge in intermodal traffic and, quite possibly, the beginning of a cooperative, less-confrontational relationship between trucking and the railroads on certain issues.

“There is a definite change,” said Tom White, spokesman for the Association of American Railroads in Washington, D.C. “Railroads and trucking still snipe at each other at times, but they also realize a whole lot can be done if you cooperate and provide better service by working together.”