If only there was a cost effective and fuel efficient way to get large amounts of cargo across the US... Oh wait, we figured that out 150 years ago at promontory Utah didn't we? What happened with that? Oh yeah, that panama canal thing was cheaper...
Modernization and electrification of rail is the answer to this problem, and quite a few others. Expand that OG rail run through Utah, and add one through the south end of the Rockies from LA to Atlanta. Full double set of electrified rails to run bidirectional traffic coast to coast in a northern and southern corridor.
Lol... 3/4 of the traffic is US bound. The Pacific is half the planet, so anything not stopping in the Americas has a shorter route in the other direction.
No it isn't. 72% total is coming OR leaving the US. Not US bound. The US actually exports quite a lot. Also, it would not be cheaper to go by rail across the country to use a ship on the closer side of where the stuff is destined for, no matter how good the rail system is.
Boy, Just In Time delivery sure is not going respond well to the Suez Canal / Red Sea being too unsafe to ship through AND restrictions on the Panama Canal.
Time for everything you have to routinely buy to get more expensive.
