Copy While railroads handle roughly 40 percent of the revenue ton-miles of freight hauled in the U.S., they produce only 2.4 percent of the nation's transportation-related emissions. As for fuel efficiency, the U.S. Department of Energy says each ton-mile moved on a Class I burns less than one-tenth the number of BTUs it takes to move the same ton-mile by truck.

Railroads are the only practical choice when it comes to fast, cost-effective, overland movement of bulk commodities like grain or coal. The products of everyday life, from appliances and automobiles to building materials and toys, travel with more fuel efficiency by rail than by road. Trains have even become the preferred method for mass shipment of solid waste. And they're moving stuff that contributes to cleaner energy, be it grains for biofuel or blade and tower assemblies for windmill generators.

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Keywords: transportation management, rail vs. trucking, green logistics, railroad sustainability, trucking emissions, sustainable freight transportation