Comment 122169

By KevinLove (registered) | Posted November 25, 2017 at 12:17:45

A key reason why this happens is the massive subsidies paid to the trucking industry by the City of Hamilton and Province of Ontario. I predict that in the absence of these government subsidies, a vast amount of goods currently moved by truck will move by rail instead.

The damage done to a road surface increases as the fourth power of vehicle weight. In other words, a vehicle that is twice as heavy will impose 16 times as much maintenance costs. Currently, trucking companies are getting a free ride (pun definitely intended!) as the City of Hamilton and Province of Ontario pay for those costs of the trucking industry.

On the other hand, railway companies pay 100% of the costs of railway maintenance. Grossly unfair competition. It is a testament to the efficiency of railways that they can still compete at all and remain in business.

This is one case where the solution to this problem is a good dose of free market capitalism. Trucking companies should pay for the damage that they do to our roads. No more taxpayer subsidy! This will result in a big shift of goods movements from truck to rail. Needless to say, the railway industry has a much, much better safety record.

And without this constant damage, our roads will no longer be potholed nightmares with a huge maintenance backlog. Safer and better! What a win!

Comment edited by KevinLove on 2017-11-25 12:23:10

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