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s America's freeways become more congested, RGP has been engaged to examine ways to lessen the amount of large trucks using our highways for shipping by alternatively moving these goods by rail. RGP began this process by comprehensively mapping out the various existing locations of southern California rail lines and then comparing them to our client's various key shipping points to see where potential opportunities exist.
RGP soon identified the first two linkable sites: One was a material-rich sand and gravel mining site in the remote Antelope Valley area of Los Angeles County (where there was little local market) and the second was a large processing and distribution facility for sand and gravel materials located 60 miles away in the heart of metropolitan Los Angeles where local aggregate reserves have run out (although the high market demands still exist).
Prior to the project, hundreds of trucks would have had to ship these products over the connecting public highways, from where they could be mined to where they could be sold. However, RGP successfully worked with the client on a better solution – transporting these materials by rail connections along both of the sites.
This change in the shipping method brought about by the project allowed for a number of reductions in environmental impacts and public safety improvements:
- It was 4 times more fuel-efficient
- It resulted in ¼ of the air emissions
- It reduced local highway congestion & deterioration
RGP is proud of their involvement on this project and of their on-going efforts to increase the use of rail as an alternative to highway travel. We truly believe that California's railroads are going to experience a second Golden Age in the near future because of the numerous benefits and efficiencies it affords.