Long haul trucking is only the cheapest transport method for food and goods because of the highway subsidy. It's a poor choice in terms of energy efficiency, but then most of our economy is designed around cheap energy and subsidies. Rail and local trucking is significantly more energy efficient, but even my semi-liberal brother-in-law opposes it because it adds additional time and cost to deliveries to his furniture store. Eliminate the trucking subsidy, and rail transport becomes economically attractive, except for foodstuffs that are time sensitive.

Sg