For any particular industrial customer? OK. For a medium-sized town? Maybe. For hauling containers from LA to Dallas, or even from LA to an air force base 100 miles away. in a world where interstate highways exist? No.
> For hauling containers from LA to Dallas, or even from LA to an air force base 100 miles away. in a world where interstate highways exist? No.
Moving the same amount of containers that a train can carry from LA to Dallas with trucks will require you to pay for than more 200 truck drivers/trucks for a 2 day journey. The cost compared to using a train will be ridiculous. And that's only if you're lucky. Due to trucks being able to carry much less weight, you may need to up that number (and split the contents of containers) or switch to heavy transport vehicles.
In fact you've got that reversed. The costs for moving that stuff to an air force base 100 miles away will be much closer. You usually need some trucks to go the last miles anyways, and the logistics involved in loading/unloading a train is going to make it less efficient compared to the longer journey.