Portland Waterfront Rail Ops (Yard 8, Intermodal, etc)

[newpylong]

Stupid, except for the 3% it is not stupid for.

The hoarding is ridiculous. Thank god they'll be able to shit but not eat.

[MEC407]

I understand stocking up on TP. I don't understand stocking up on bottled water. COVID-19 isn't causing wells to run dry or city water systems to shut down. There are some people who legitimately need bottled water because their well water is poor quality, but those people are in the extreme minority and now they're being harmed by people who have perfectly good water sources and don't actually need bottled water.

The hoarders are a whole other story — the ones who've been buying up HUGE quantities of stuff and reselling it at obscene markup. Karma will not be kind to them.

[gokeefe]

Correct however if there was sufficient trucking capacity I'm confident Poland Springs could ramp up. This crisis is similar to an extreme summer heat wave. Should be interesting to see if they can increase production sufficiently to meet demand. I'm guessing they will work their way through this.

[MEC407]

With more and more school districts announcing closures of a week or more, I wonder if school bus drivers could get temporary work hauling water...?

[690]

Not likely, unless said school bus drivers also happen to have a Class A. There's also a significant difference between driving a long wheelbase vehicle like a bus, and an actual trailer, which likely would take more than several weeks to properly adjust to.

[bostontrainguy]

Read that on tonight's 60 Minutes there will be a story on autonomous trucks that will be on the road in about a year! This is not good news for the railroads.

[pnolette]

Another problem.Stores like Hannaford have product at their warehouse,just not enough drivers to keep up with demand at store level.Its bad enough that DOT has suspended HOS rules for certain companies hauling food or medicine.

[690]

I'd be amazed if autonomous trucks were on the road, and could successfully replace manned trucks within a year.

[Safetee]

If automobile drivers get nervous when they see the letters kcam appear on their rear views with a driver behind the wheel, just imagine the thrill they'll have when a truck with the same credentials but no driver shows up.

[Backshophoss]

Driverless trucks will stick to the interstates,not the backroads running to reach the shipper or grocery whses.

[gokeefe]

Not likely, unless said school bus drivers also happen to have a Class A. There's also a significant difference between driving a long wheelbase vehicle like a bus, and an actual trailer, which likely would take more than several weeks to properly adjust to.

Totally agreed. Interesting that the current situation is driving a shortage in trucking and not a collapse.

I would guess some drivers might be laid off and could pickup short term work with other companies. Amazon supposedly is hiring 100,000 warehouse workers to deal with increased demand. Pretty ridiculous that economic shifts from the crisis could actually drive unemployment down.

There will be losses in small business and retail but if short term hiring picks up elsewhere it could be a wash. That's absolutely crazy when you really think about it.

[roberttosh]

There is no way in God's green earth that new hiring associated with the virus, such as the Amazon situation will even register on the radar screen compared to the job losses. Granted, in the best case scenario some of those jobs could start coming back in several weeks, but right now we're heading off a cliff.

[Rbts Stn]

If automobile drivers get nervous when they see the letters kcam appear on their rear views with a driver behind the wheel, just imagine the thrill they'll have when a truck with the same credentials but no driver shows up.

Steven Spielberg is cackling with glee over this idea

[jaymac]

by Rbts Stn » Tue Mar 17, 2020 6:33 am
Safetee wrote: ↑Sun Mar 15, 2020 7:34 pm
If automobile drivers get nervous when they see the letters kcam appear on their rear views with a driver behind the wheel, just imagine the thrill they'll have when a truck with the same credentials but no driver shows up.
Steven Spielberg is cackling with glee over this idea

To keep the Spielberg gag running, we're gonna need a bigger mirror if it's a t-dnomaid.

[Cosakita18]

Does anyone know about the work going on at Merrill dry bulk terminal? For the past few weeks I've been seeing dredging and cement pouring along the water at the eastern end of the facility. It seems to be fairly substantial and disruptive work, since Merrill hasn't seen a ship in almost a month.