RAILROADS: Another Blow

It costs the U.S. Post Office Department about $4 a mile to haul mail 20 miles in a 60-ft. railroad car. For a truck carrying half as much mail, the cost is 30¢ a mile plus terminal handling charges. Last week the Post Office said that it would soon start using trucks, instead of railroads, for short hauls within a 200-mile radius of big cities. Truck routes have already been laid out around Boston and St. Louis, with plans for nine other big-city areas to follow. Eventual revenue loss to U.S. railroads, already hard hit by truck competition: $100 million a year.