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No, in the US the two systems are used for different things. Trucks allow point-to-point delivery. Trains are more useful for carrying bulk commodities.

John McPhee has written some wonderful articles about modes of transport, and the people who work in them: http://www.amazon.com/Uncommon-Carriers-John-McPhee/dp/08654...

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What's stopping intermodal containers being used to displace the long-distance trucking? Trains should on the face of it be cheaper, even when you're not transporting bulk commodities (you're talking in the US case a train 1500m long, potentially with the containers double-stacked depending on the route).

This paper seems to give an interesting perspective: http://intermodal.transportation.org/Documents/brown.pdf

It comes down to highway transportation being massively subsidized in the US, to the detriment of rail. So rail is cheaper but much higher latency than trucking, with the potential for long and unpredictable delays.

I was about to post about John McPhee, too, when I saw your comment. Excellent book, recommended.

Somewhat related, also great: Looking for a Ship.

The Box, but Mark Levinson is also a great read. http://www.amazon.com/The-Box-Shipping-Container-Smaller/dp/...

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