I would like to give a real-world response to the east-west highway concerns raised by the Coalition for Sensible Energy (CSE).

The No. 1 reason for business failure is ignoring changes in the market, whether it is delivery of services, speed of delivery, type of product or changing desires of the consumer. If my family’s business had clung to transporting our product by rail, we would have ceased to exit 10 years ago. Instead we gave the customers what they wanted — faster delivery of a smaller-volume product; concepts that are well in keeping with the “just in time” inventory philosophy.

CSE would also have us believe we would be building an east-west highway for Canadian trucks. How many of those Canadian truck trips involve picking up products at Maine manufacturers for shipment into Canada? This happens nearly every day at our plant — with both Canadian and Maine-based trucks.

CSE is also quick to point out that Canada allows trucks to weigh more than the United States allows, but neglected to tell how Canadian trucks still need to abide by U.S. weight limits and how Canada protects its roads by reducing the legal load limit for two months every spring.

Will rail transportation become a viable alternative in the future? I hope so, but it’s up to the rail industry to make a cost-effective and timely transportation system. Until then, taxpayers need to put transportation dollars to best use in projects like the east-west highway. Lynn A. Ricker Milo