Comments by "AQuietNight" (@AQuietNight) on "More Perfect Union" channel.

  1. The report for East Palestine, Ohio said the track was well maintained. Though very reliable, bearings do occasionally fail. Like automobiles, they pick the time and place to fail. What might be problematic is empty railcars that have a low tare weight placed in the middle of a train. An light unloaded flat car surrounded by heavy tank and hopper cars may jump the track easier than a string of full, heavy tank cars. As for the bridge, if it is in sound condition, there is no need to replace it. Many bridges are pretty old but they are still sound.
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  2. The Silicon Valley effect: Great service at first then start cutting back on customer benefits. Then send the weekly email telling about this week's change of service terms. I have probably spent more time dealing with Google's changes than watching a hyper active 2 year old.
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  3. I have had people turn down purchases because of UPS shipping rates. A few big shippers may get better rates from UPS but smaller businesses can not compete with that. Doesn't matter what UPS workers want if customers do not want to pay the shipping charge.
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  4. Not sure there is much of a case here.
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  5. The private market has failed in this matter. For many of these corporations places to live are just assets that have to have their returns maximized.
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  6.  @leoperez2566  It boils down to this: Do people have affordable housing or do they not? Nothing else matters.
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  7. These government operated insurance programs end up covering buildings that get damaged multiple times because of their location. Then the tax payers pickup the cost of these unsafe buildings as they get rebuilt again and again..
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  8. People need big oil. Part of civilization is advancement requires trade offs. So, if we had no oil and lived like we did a few thousand years ago, you'd have shorter lives, more disease and maybe even less food.
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  9.  @nispelsm  If the damage is obvious.
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  10.  @nispelsm  Unless things have changed, railroads will repair then bill the car owner, whether it is company owned or a private owner. Railroads can embargo unsafe equipment. Wheel bearings are sealed and not in plain view. If a railroad employee sees something or hears a bearing squeaking or grinding, they should write the car up. Bearings rarely fail and they have a high degree of reliability. That doesn't mean one couldn't fail in-between inspections.
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  11.  @nispelsm  Over the past 60 years derailments have dropped dramatically. There are occasional bump ups but overall the trend has been downward.
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  12. "Union Pacific faces wave of lawsuits" The railroad argues due to the nature of the business, employees must have a high degree of fitness. A doctor's okay is not enough. Railroad work can be dangerous (as it always has been).
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  13. The County owns our water system and we have seen 30%+ rate increases.
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  14. Customers I deal with are becoming resistant to the cost of UPS shipping.
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  15. In the report in Palestine, Ohio the track was found to be well maintained.
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