Railex incorporates the latest technologies with its own infrastructure and private non-stop rail service to ensure the same scheduled departure day and time every week, 52 weeks a year.
OK. This is BS. The railroads are union. The last time I looked, locomotives don't have sleeping quarters. So there is no way a train can go coast to coast non stop. They are going to stop at 2 hours and take the break that was bargained for in the collective bargaining agreement. Then 2 hours later, lunch. 2 hours after that, another break. Then 2 hours later, end of shift.
I suppose that they swap crews after the first 8 hour shift, and so on, as the train makes the way across the nation.
That doesn't sound like "non stop" to me.
. . . . . 55 car refrigerated unit trains, with the capacity to transport the equivalent of 1120 trucks of refrigerated merchandise each and every week . . . . .
OK. 1,120 trucks at 44,000lbs each equals 49,280,000lbs of freight, not counting the weight of the freight cars, the weight of the fuel to run the reefers, and the weight of the locomotives. The say they can move a ton of freight "nearly" 500 miles on a gallon of diesel (average). So 49,280,000lbs is 24,640 tons. Therefore it takes 24,640 gallons of fuel to move that load 500 miles, or 147,840 gallons to go coast to coast (3,000 miles).
That's a lot of fuel.
They also claim that over the road trucks emit more greenhouse gasses than locomotives. No way. Locomotives do not have emission control devices. And have you ever noticed just how much soot comes out of a locomotive engine? Only ocean going ships pollute worse.
Oh sure they claim to have APU's on their newer locomotives, and they shut down the large diesel engine when the train is not moving to prevent idling.
So?
That still doesn't account for all the crap that is poring out of the stacks when those babies are running wide open to get that mile long string of cars rolling, or to get them up grades.
Until locomotives are required to meet the same stringent emissions standards that heavy trucks are held to I will not accept any of their double talk about how they are a better choice than trucks.
I am not impressed.
