Changes have occurred in the Kansas grain transportation systems that have increased trucking of grain. Kansas farmers will truck their grain a much greater distance to obtain the higher grain price at the unit train loading location. Farmers will bypass the local grain elevator, and the shortline railroad serving it, and truck the grain to the unit train loading facility, resulting in increased road damage costs. It is important to identify the causes of increased grain trucking, to measure the impact on Kansas shortline railroads, and identify strategies that Kansas could use to avoid the increased road damage costs associated with shortline abandonment. Accordingly, the objectives of this study are as follows: Objective A-Identify changes in Kansas grain transportation that are diverting more grain traffic to trucking. Objective B-Measure the effect of the changes identified in Objective A on Kansas shortline grain traffic and financial condition. Objective C-If the impacts measured in Objective B are significant, measure the increase in Kansas road damage costs attributable to increased trucking of grain due to abandonment of Kansas shortlines. Objective D-Suggest strategies that the state of Kansas could use to avoid the increased road damage costs accompanying shortline abandonment. The study area for this research corresponds to the western two-thirds of Kansas.
Impact of Kansas Grain Transportation on Kansas Highway Damage Costs
2002
160 pages
Report
No indication
English
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