Written by Gene Kursky
As Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) introduces Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 (CSA 2010) to improve large truck safety to reduce commercial motor vehicle related crashes, injuries and fatalities, what’s ahead for the auto transport industry?
Imagine this; your vehicle is loaded on a trailer that not only can hold up to 12 cars but as much as few hundred vehicles that is hauled by an electric locomotive hauler on a high speed railway. Once the load has arrived to a specific destination, your driver gets the trailer off the railway and delivers the car to your door. Is this the future of the auto transport industry? Not only will this improve safety and get hundred thousands of trucks off major highways, reduce carbon emissions, but will also speed up delivery times by eliminating loading and unloading delays cause by terminals and weigh stations.
Industry auto transport analysts do not forecast any dramatic changes in the equipment. As new car carrying trailers may get larger, trailers aren’t likely to grow in size. We predict next-generation of trailers will be equipped with new designs, safer for the operators with improved footing on top ramps, to reduce the chance of vehicle damage during loading. Don’t expect much change in the upcoming years ahead.
However, I see a different vision on how your cars will be delivered to your destination. On April 16th 2009, the U.S. Department of Transportation redrew the map for high speed rail in America. This is a big advancement in the freight and logistics industry and I applaud this move by the government.This plan will connect cities and states into an integrated system. This state-of-the-art dedicated rail tracks will top speeds up to 220 mph connecting major cities together. This 17,000 mile national high speed rail system is planned for completion by 2030.
It’s a proven fact; railroads are the most effective way to move heavy freight. Electrifying Americas long distance haul routes, puts this 120 year old technology some years into the future of auto transport industry and the new way we move cargo freight.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Montway Auto Transport // May 19, 2010 at 5:16 am
For the sake of companies such as mine, let’s hope this isn’t the case! For now we will hang tight and continue to do what we do best..transport cars!
2 Kevin // May 22, 2010 at 5:29 am
Excellent post. I see this coming not only for the car hauling but for most of the shipping freight industry. Europe has already started doing this using electric locomotives to move freight, cars and whatever. I don’t think it will be long until big store chains setup their own railways to move cargo across country.
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