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(The Associated Press circulated the following story on March 14.)

LOWELL, Ark. — Top executives at J.B. Hunt Transport Services say the nation needs more large terminals where rail and trucking lines come together.

The trucking industry relies on an interstate highway system begun during the Eisenhower administration, and the highways are not adequate to move freight meet the nation’s future demands, said J.B Hunt vice president of sales Terry Matthews.

The president of the Lowell-based trucking company, Kirk Thompson, recently told investors that limits on rail service confines intermodal transportation growth.

“If we could get more consistent and reliable rail service, there is no end to the amount of freight” that could be moved by rail, Thompson said.

The trucking industry has to address its needs in ways that would seem to put truckers on the job with their sometime competitors in the rail business. But the executives said the trucking industry must adapt to changing cost structures and other market forces, including labor. Finding people to operate big rigs has been hard.

“There are not many people raising their children to become truck drivers,” Matthews said.

Union Pacific Railroad is building a 360-acre intermodal terminal in Dallas County, Texas, to help long-haul trucking companies meet shipping needs. Union Pacific has an intermodal agreement with J.B. Hunt Transport.

“Intermodal continues to grow literally across the country as an acceptable mode of transportation and warehousing. A customer any more will have shipped a week’s worth of inventory, so they don’t have many trailers sitting by stores or their warehouses,” Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said.

Matthews said intermodal terminals would allow trucks and train cars to move freight inland from container ports at Long Beach, Calif., and Los Angeles. To help make the system more efficient, the nation needs a national transportation policy and government investment to build more intermodal terminals, Matthews said.

One version of a transportation spending bill that cleared the U.S. House last week would have $250 million per year for intermodal facilities from 2005 through 2009. The bill is awaiting action in the Senate.

Lane Kidd, president of the Arkansas Trucking Association, said railway companies would invest more in new train tracks if there were more intermodal facilities to encourage track use.

Officials said shipping capacity is tight and demand is varied.

J.B. Hunt reported intermodal segment revenue of more than $1 billion in 2004 and owns more than 22,000 intermodal containers. Matthews said the intermodal segment is “one of our fastest-growing and largest divisions at J.B. Hunt.”

Kidd said the intermodal terminals are affordable because they can be built on rural land near an interstate highway and a railroad. Kidd said rail terminals are better for freight than more river ports would be. Most containers arrive via ocean ship, and can be put on trains at the port.

The Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority discussed at a Feb. 17 meeting the building of a port to move freight by railway, roads and water. The proposal is still under discussion. An intermodal facility is also being discussed for Pope County.