Effect of truck and rail economic deregulation on radioactive material transportation

An evaluation of the effect of truck and rail economic deregulation on radioactive material transportation is presented in this document. The evaluation is based on expected market performance that would be consistent with fundamental economic theories. The issues of transport safety, commodity discrimination and rates are addressed. Relative to transport safety, deregulation should not have any significant impact. While deregulation should not change commodity acceptance and may lower rates for motor carriage, it may allow increased discrimination by rail carriers in addition to raising rates. Consequently, it is likely that the radioactive material transportation industry will continue to place greater reliance on the competitive motor carrier industry. Positive steps that shippers can take are to maintain credible options to ship by alternate modes, to address issues that result in the perceived need for special risk premiums, and to reduce the cost of handling truck shipments by improvements in technology or procedures. 28 references, 3 figures, 6 tables