He cites a shortage of railroad equipment, the deregulation of the industry and the sell-off of short lines, the convenience and flexibility of truck schedules and the unwillingness of the rail industry to provide service to agricultural customers when nonagricultural products are more profitable and more consistent. That causes problems in keeping the flow going for the railroads. There is no doubt that shipping by rail saves fuel. But many elevators won't have a shipping choice. If they haven't already called for railcars, they aren't likely to get them.
Cars are contracted months in advance and are in short supply nationwide.
The price of that doesn't end with the higher freight costs to farmers and elevators. It takes almost 2,000 truckloads to haul 1.6 million bushels of grain. That's a lot of trips over roads hard-pressed to handle the traffic and bridges not designed to hold the weight. The result is road damage, millions of dollars' worth, in counties where the population and the income can't raise the funds for repairs. We just can't afford to do the work we need to do to keep the roads up.