Comment by Spooky23

There was alot of complexities. It's hard to really understand the true position of these businesses in modern terms. Operationally, they would often try to over-represent losses because the interstate commerce commission and other State-level entities mandated services, especially short-haul passenger service that become irrelevant.

National infrastructure is always subsidized and is never profitable on it's own. UPS is the largest trucking company, but their balance sheet doesn't reflect the costs of enabling their business. The area I grew up in had tarred gravel roads exclusively until the early 1980s -- they have asphalt today because the Federal government subsidizes the expense. The regulatory and fiscal scale tipped to automotive and to a lesser extent aircraft. It's arguable whether that was good or bad, but it is.