Comment on Decision to allow wider truck bodies paves way for electrification of big rigs in Australia
fruitleatherpostcard@lemm.ee 11 months agoYes I agree that a mixed method is best. However the current predominant method of road is unsustainable and dangerous. For instance, there is no excuse for an expanded east coast line not doing more to service various hubs which trucks can then the ‘final mile’ (yes I know; many 10’s of Ks) delivery.
DogMuffins@discuss.tchncs.de 11 months ago
Yeah, I’m not trying to advocate for trucks but in the example I mentioned mixed freight just wouldn’t be competitive.
By truck, the journey of Warehouse > 500km > Shop can be achieved in 7 hours.
By train, warehouse to train would be 2 hours minimum, 500km would be 8 hours minimum, and train to shop would be 3 or four hours minimum. Basically there’s two additional unload & sort & load events in the train journey, and the train is slower. The ~12 hours outlined here is also the absolute best case - most places in West Aus just don’t have the requisite economy of scale.
I guess there must be solutions which just aren’t apparent because this method of freight isn’t common. Shipping containers would be helpful for example.