Ownership is the problem...
With trains, each car could theoretically be owned by different shipper. Some are owned by the railroads, but the vast majority are leased.
The same applies to truck owner-operators. Some don't own their own trailers.
It would benefit the trailer owners who buy their own fuel, if they can afford it amidst this fuel crunch -- such as large trucking companies or companies that operate their own trucking operations (Wal-Mart, FedEx, Groceries)...
The railroads may change after 25 years of research. They rely on their higher-tech AC traction motors and ECU feedback loops on the newer locomotives to save fuel. Otherwise, they could just raise the price on exclusive markets like they normally do. The freight railroads aren't hurting at all.
Amtrak will always have problems. Created in 1971 because the airlines ran everyone else out of business, it combines two touchy subjects: passenger transportation (a money-losing proposition), and Governmental operation (yay). The Northeast Corridor and West Coast operations do well with profits, but the train travel age is dead in-between. Still, they soldier on. Otherwise, most Amtrak cars are surprisingly aerodyamic to start with:
Sleeper Cars for long distance travel
High-Speed Acela Service in the "Northeast Corridor"
The currently common "Amfleet" coach car -- build-dating ranges from 1975-1983:
These were designed for "high speed" operation: 90 MPH and are rated for 125 MPH operation
Amtrak is generally so strapped for cash, that upgrades are few and far between. I'm not sure about the fuel run-out that was quoted earlier. That's generally an operations error.
Coal and Intermodal is where the $$$ is, and that belongs to the private carriers.
RH77
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