[QuarterReptile]

You're arguing past parent. He stated not that trucking is cheaper, but that it is heavily subsidized. In almost all cases, rail would cheaper, and some things will take advantage of that. Likewise, in all situations trucking will be more expensive,yet there are use cases where the reliability and speed are justified (just like couriers are sometimes justified.) The difference made by the subsidies is all in shifting the margin.

Things that would be toss-ups or wins for rail are instead pushed to trucking. This would just be wasteful, and not so pernicious, were it not for the serious negative impacts on the layout of our towns that result from favoring trucks so heavily.