Help with something?

Question

ok so im in AP Economy and i need to research on how the rail cargo system in america works, and i have noooo clue. Please help!!! specifically, how would a cargo container containing normal boxes of products get from the Port of L.A. to a nearby rail depot then to Chicago. How much would it cost, and would the same trip be completesd if the cargo was dry bulk, liquid bulk, or hazardous materials?

Answer 1

well I'm not sure what it would cost but I can tell you that it all depends on what it is. and they would take it off the cargo ship it came to port on then get loaded onto railcar by a crane and go by rail to chicago.

Answer 2

Before deregulation, the shipping costs were designated for each type of commodity.  That is why it would, at that time, cost the same to ship a car load of feathers as a car load of steel.  The only wiggle room the carriers had was a difference in the rates for a shipment designated "less than car load", which cost more (per unit shipped) than shipping a full car.  And, since the rates were the same, the main focus of competition amongst the rail carriers was better service.

As it pertains to your question, a shipper (at least a private party shipper) is contracted for a container to be delivered in a specific time frame.  You would contract with the owner of the container to ship your commodity, and would not deal with the railroad personally.

Inter-modal shippers like Swift, UPS, Hanjin, US Postal Service (the list goes on and on) contract with the rail companies for service, and you contract with them.  You may not even know that your shipment will travel by rail unless contracting for express service.

Shipping rates, again, since deregulation, are subject to the time honored "whatever the market will bear" economics of a free enterprise system.

In your example, an inter-modal container  would off-load from container ships at Long Beach (not port of LA) and immediately load onto a well car (a freight car designed to stack containers on top of one another) or piggyback car destined for eastern markets, or be dropped onto a set of highway wheels (trailer) for delivery to relatively nearby destinations (usually less than 700 miles).

Bulk is the least expensive shipping, while hazmat, well, do I have to say it costs a bunch?

Good luck.  Hope this helps.  And, this was a very good question!