J. Clarke wrote:

I would be _very_ surprised if unloading it on the west coast and loading
it on the east coast was cheaper than just leaving it on the boat and
running it through the Canal.


Life is full of little surprises.

I worked for Conrail as a Conductor for 11 years and saw an awful lot of
such freight. Going straight across the US is cheaper than detouring a
thousand miles south, waiting to use the canal, PAYING passage through
the Panama Canal, passing through the canal and then recouping the lost
thousand miles (all the while paying wages to the sailors and handling
maintenance on a very big machine). I probably have the mileage wrong,
but I think I've got a handle on the principle.

Then, too, there's the issue of getting a load to return home with.

Bill
--
Life is like playing a violin in public and learning the instrument as
one goes on.
Samuel Butler (1835 - 1902)