[instarx]

Well, I think there are very few cross-county loads that the shipper says absolutely has to be there in 4 days, and when he does he pays for it - but that isn't typical.

I may not have explained my concept very well - the driver would not have to load his truck onto the train and then find another train to take - the drivers' car would be part of the same train - he'd get there the same time his truck did. He'd then just drive it off. This is the way the Channel Tunnel works.

Nothing is truer than saying time is money for truckers, because there isn't enough of it to squeeze in enough paying loads to make a profit. If it takes three days to get cross-country on a truck-train, and the driver gets to charge the shipper the same amount, and it costs him less than the fuel would have cost, that's lot's of extra time for more loads, and more profit per load as well. Plus, ONE driver could do it on a truck-train, so the expense of a co-driver isn't needed.

If a driver saved one day per cross-country trip and did that four times a month (once a week, doable), that would be 48 DAYS of extra road-time every year available for making money.

But I think we're getting away from aerodynamics and into the economics of freight-hauling.