cyras21 wrote:to start focusing on more important legislation, like banning the damn TRUCKS from the left lane. Just because your's is bigger then mine doesn't mean you can just SIT there!!! I need some rockets on my p/u.
Sounds like somebody had a bad commute today
Dan Schultz
"The Village Tinker" http://www.thevillagetinker.com" target="_blank
Current 'stable'... Rudolf Meinl 5/4, Marzan (by Willson) euph, King 2341, Alphorn, and other strange stuff.
though I think consider that a possibility would be optimistic to say the least..it took a long long time to get our rail systems to their current state of uselessness, and there's no telling how long that'll continue. As long as our lawmakers are legislating with oil stains on the front of their trousers I don't think we can hold out much hope for the rail industry.
...though maybe we'll get lucky and gas prices will soar to over $10 a gallon.
Does anybody besides myself think that the economics of transportation will eventually and spontaneously resolve the situation? True, stupidity reigns. But I think that creative alternatives such as Bloke's will arise in response to the 'crisis' in fuel prices and availability. There is an old law called 'supply and demand' that isn't violated for long unless Big Brother steps in to muck up the situation. And even then the law will eventually assert itself.
You can put the blame for all the trucks on the highways directly on the shoulders of General Motors Corporation. They put the railroads out of the freight business so they could sell their trucks and busses.
Dan Schultz
"The Village Tinker" http://www.thevillagetinker.com" target="_blank
Current 'stable'... Rudolf Meinl 5/4, Marzan (by Willson) euph, King 2341, Alphorn, and other strange stuff.
By the way, what is the status of our rail system? That is, existing highways are widened, and new highways are considered/built pretty often. However, at least around my neck of the woods, I'm not sure I've seen or heard of any new rail lines being built. Is it that we're pretty much using what we have, but not making anything new?
bloke wrote:I've brought this up in the past...and (again, as in the past) nothing meant against "truck drivers" or Schlep, but it seems to me that
18-wheel truck rigs should mostly move freight within 20-30 mile radiuses.
Trains should be piggy-packing all of these containers from major center to major center.
Rather than destroying-rebuilding-destroying-rebuilding-destroying-rebuilding-destroying-rebuilding-destroying-rebuilding our highway system......due to huge trucks...
...Why not develop/redevelop our rail system (enhancing some right-of-ways to as many as 4-6 tracks...!!!) and have 1/200th of the people (and perhaps 1/50th of the fuel) moving this stuff between major centers and not on the highways!!!
Obviously, one the stuff reaches the major centers, we'll need the 18-wheelers (still quite a few folks, but driving much shorter distances) to move the containers to specific areas...
...which might not at all alleviate your big-city commute.
Everyone who has posted here needs to read Ted Leavitt's "Marketing Myopia".
He forcasted nearly 40 years ago the problems of the railways. It isn't GM who put them out of business, it is the railways themselves that caused their market to crumble.
Matthew Gilchrest wrote:...... It isn't GM who put them out of business, it is the railways themselves that caused their market to crumble.
Read the history about the evolution of trucks, busses, and automobiles in the US. It's clear to see that GM had a MAJOR part in the demise of the railroads. Fact is, GM actually bought railroads and closed them. They also bought electric streetcar systems and sent them packing in order to put busses on the streets.
Dan Schultz
"The Village Tinker" http://www.thevillagetinker.com" target="_blank
Current 'stable'... Rudolf Meinl 5/4, Marzan (by Willson) euph, King 2341, Alphorn, and other strange stuff.
Well, while I'm laughing at your spelling of "busses" ... (I think you meant, uh, "buses") ....
capitalism might actually work if it were allowed to, that is to have the market actually drive things, instead of having special interests control the markets. But I may be starting to venture into the dreaded "politics"...
e.g., I have a co-worker who will only buy an American car; he sees that as patriotic. I see it as preventing market forces from causing American-made cars to come up to the standards of the Japanese car I just bought.
MA
MaryAnn wrote:Well, while I'm laughing at your spelling of "busses" ... (I think you meant, uh, "buses") .... I have a co-worker who will only buy an American car; he sees that as patriotic. MA
Yeah.... it's 'buses' About the 'American car' bit... there is no such thing as an American car any more. Even the Ford Crown Victoria doesn't contain enough domestic parts to classify it as a domestic car. There are major Japanese parts on EVERY domestic automobile.
I spent the last 20 years of my automation 'sales engineer' career calling on automotive clients. It strikes me as funny that GM/UAW won't allow employees to park foreign cars in prime spaces in employee parking lots when all the GM cars contain lots of foreign parts.
Dan Schultz
"The Village Tinker" http://www.thevillagetinker.com" target="_blank
Current 'stable'... Rudolf Meinl 5/4, Marzan (by Willson) euph, King 2341, Alphorn, and other strange stuff.
TubaTinker wrote:Yeah.... it's 'buses' About the 'American car' bit... there is no such thing as an American car any more. Even the Ford Crown Victoria doesn't contain enough domestic parts to classify it as a domestic car. There are major Japanese parts on EVERY domestic automobile..
But some of those "Japanese" parts are made in the USA; many Denso products, for example, (think wires, air conditioners, dashboard instrumentation, etc), are made in Tennessee.
If ownership, however, is the criterion, then Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, etc. are verboten because they're owned by a German company (Daimler).
Well, of course not "all" truck drivers are any particular way more than "all" car drivers are any particular way. It just bugs us more when truck drivers do it.
But I do remember a couple years ago on the freeway trying to go somewhere...one truck decided to pass another truck on a long upgrade. The truck doing the passing was going maybe 24 mph and the one being passed was doing, oh, 23 mph. Of course I am exaggerating on the speeds but the relative speeds are accurate; like, if two cars were doing that at least it wouldn't take as long because cars are shorter. I sort of wanted the bazooka launcher in that instance. And...it wasn't the first time, by a long shot.
schlepporello wrote:it was about the ignorance of some truck drivers who wish to camp out in the hammer lane (left lane). Yes, there are ignernt truckers who will pick a lane and stick with it forever.
I though y'all had to go to school and learn how to drive those things. I guess they don't do any better than the most drivers traing schools.
schlepporello wrote: my truck is computer limited to 65MPH
Is that common? If so, the problem might be alleviated by educating drivers that big trucks can't just speed up and go around them. I wonder if the morons who keep the trucks from getting back over are actually sitting there wondering why the stupid truck driver doesn't speed up and get around them.
I would just think that if you're going slow enough that a truck computer limited to 65 MPH has to pass you, then you will be loathe to go any faster to let them get over. Likewise, you would probably be aware that you are going slower than most folks, which is why you're in the right lane to begin with. But if you knew the truck couldn't do more than 65, you'd understand why he seems to be camping to your left, and then you'd either slow down or speed up to let him get back over.
"It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged."
~G.K. Chesterton
Doug@GT wrote:I wonder if the morons who keep the trucks from getting back over are actually sitting there wondering why the stupid truck driver doesn't speed up and get around them.
No. I doubt those morons notice the truck is there.
you'd understand why he seems to be camping to your left, and then you'd either slow down or speed up to let him get back over.
Again you giving the morons WAY, WAY too much credit.
About the 'American car' bit... there is no such thing as an American car any more. Even the Ford Crown Victoria doesn't contain enough domestic parts to classify it as a domestic car. There are major Japanese parts on EVERY domestic automobile.
