New York, NY — John T. Evers, senior director of government affairs at The Business Council of New York State, applauded the supply chain for keeping the country moving during the pandemic in an August op-ed for Empire Report. Evers spoke directly to the continued effort made by railroads in the past six months to proudly carry necessary supplies for both essential workers and the average American.
“Railroads, for example, carry everything from food and essential consumer items to chemicals required for medicines and water purification, energy sources used to generate electricity and even the pulp for producing toilet tissue. Though they have been hit hard like other sectors of the economy, railroads along with their suppliers and contractors, have adapted to move essential goods and continue to transform to serve the modern economy.”
Despite the adverse economic impact of the pandemic, Evers acknowledges that the railroads are uniquely equipped to face economic challenges. In a nod to the 40 years of private spending that U.S. railroads have put into their networks, Evers applauds the freight rail network for its successes, from cost to fuel efficiency.
“Since 1980, U.S. freight railroads have spent and invested over $710 billion to transform their network and operations. This has made U.S. freight railroads the envy of the world: shippers can move almost twice as much as they could 40 years ago for roughly the same price, while fuel efficiency has doubled. Railroads continue to be roughly four times as fuel efficient as moving freight on the highway, which means every ton moved by rail instead of truck emits 75% fewer greenhouse gases.”
Evers closes by underscoring his belief that railroads are an industry that the country can rely on as it moves forward.
