Since the greater freedom and versatility offered by trucks and later air freight have stepped onto the scene, rail freight has been somewhat pushed to the side. However, is this the best approach to transportation?
Especially if we consider the effects of truck fleets and air freight on the environment. While they may seem more ‘convenient,’ do their high rates of ecological pollution justify their use? Let’s take a look at the eco-friendly benefits of rail freight to decide.
Much higher fuel efficacy
The first and perhaps biggest of the eco-friendly benefits of rail freight is how much more fuel efficient it is than pretty much any other method of transportation. Some countries have even made further strides in perfecting this rail freight aspect, reaching downright insane efficiency. For example, we can brag about transporting goods over 500 miles per gallon of fuel in the US. That makes rail freight one of the best ways to reduce logistics costs and the ecologically best transportation solution. And the US doesn’t even have the best and most advanced rail freight system in the world! As more research is put into improving rail freight, we expect fuel efficiency to improve. Even if there is an eventual switch to electrically driven vehicles, we can expect rail freight to remain the most fuel-efficient option.
Fighting the greenhouse effect
Another of the eco-friendly benefits of rail freight is that it doesn’t contribute to greenhouse gas emissions nearly as much as the other goods transportation options. Of course, this is partly due to what we discussed concerning fuel consumption. Thanks to EPA data, we know that freight railroads amount to just 0.5% of greenhouse gas emissions in the US. If that’s not impressive, then even if the scope is narrowed down to the transportation industry, rail freight still only amounts to 1.9% of greenhouse gas emissions. This number is overwhelmingly positive compared to pretty much everything else! If rail freight could be further popularized, this could lead to massive ecological improvements to the transportation system of the entire US.
Highway pollution and congestion reduction
One of the best eco-friendly benefits of rail freight is that opting for it helps reduce highway pollution and congestion. After all, as the experts from evolutionmovingdfw.com can attest, many businesses are forced to use truck fleets. As such, the number of trucks and vehicles on the highway increases and causes many problems. A pertinent piece of information is that vehicles still produce greenhouse gases even while idling in a traffic jam. Not to mention that delivery delays can cost business owners thousands or even millions of dollars every year. That means businesses cannot only transport their goods using rail freight, ratcheting up their losses, but also contributing to environmental pollution. By opting to use rail freight, you effectively eliminate both of these problems, and enough businesses doing it can significantly clear roads!
Avoiding resource wastage
An essential fact about rail freight is how much more efficient it is compared to truck fleets or air freight. After all, consider how many goods you can pile onto a cargo plane or a truck. On the other hand, a train can hold substantial amounts of goods. Consider, too, the number of trucks you need to rival a train’s storage capacity. The sheer number of those trucks added to highways vastly increases greenhouse emissions! And let’s look at the story from a business owner’s perspective. Trucks require maintenance, parking, route management, and delivery schedule. On the other hand, it’s much easier to plan for and rely on rail freight. Instead of trying to predict delivery speed and accident rates, all you need to do is load up your goods without worrying about optimal inventory management.
One of the least environmentally risky freight methods
While a less pleasant subject, we also must consider accidents that can occur during transport and the effects of those accidents on the environment. We often hear stories for years afterward about significant oil or chemical spills that happen due to highway accidents. Some of these accidents result in ecological damage that takes decades to fix. On the other hand, consider this: when have you last heard about rail freight resulting in something like that? Rail freight is a much safer option across the board; even when accidents happen, the damage is minimal. So, be it for safeguarding your profits or protecting the environment, rail freight is a safer bet.
An overall improvement
The final thing we need to mention when discussing the eco-friendly benefits of rail freight is its future potential. As things stand, anyone who takes the time to learn more about the world of logistics and transportation can tell you that rail freight in the US has massive potential for new developments. To start with, the US still uses diesel electricity. That is simply due to the vast number of projects required to replace everything with an electric-only solution. And because this would net minimal benefits to the functionality of the railway system. However, as technology advances, there are good chances this situation will change! That is to say nothing about the many design and operational improvements in the works. All for the sake of making rail freight more effective and efficient. If things improve further in the field, the ecological benefits of rail freight will only increase.
The choice going forward
Considering everything, it should be evident that the eco-friendly benefits of rail freight make it the much better pick. Besides, if the idea of partially solving environmental concerns is not all that appealing to you, there are practical benefits to business owners that we have outlined, too. Overall, rail freight has too much to recommend for it to be overlooked.
