The government of Ontario has just decided that the solution to some perceived problem is to allow tractor trailors on our highways that will be approximately 80 feet long...this will consist of a tractor and not one but two 40 foot trailors.
I suspect that this is a reaction to the Canadian trucking industry that wants to adjust for the increased cost of fuel...what it does not account for is that the time to take over the road trailors off the road in favour of trains is now.
A steel wheel on a steel rail has the lowest coefficient of friction as opposed to rubber tires on asphalt highways. Further one train with four internal combustion engines can haul more freight than one hundred tractor trailors with one hundred internal combustion engines. Finally, it is substantially cheaper to build and maintain a rail bed as opposed to concrete or asphalt highways.
So what is with the Ontario legislators?
Sunday, April 19, 2009
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