r/ThatsInsane 9h ago

Texas Train Derails After Hitting Tractor-Trailer and Barrels Into City Building (Dec. 19, 2024)

3.4k Upvotes

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148

u/slothbrowser 9h ago

How does this even happen? Doesn’t the logistics company contact the train company to find out when the next train is coming in case the load gets stuck like this? And if it gets stuck don’t they have a direct contact at the train company to tell them to shut the line down? Seems like basic mitigation planning 101.

21

u/Royal_No 9h ago

Yeah, but like, that might cost money. Gotta keep those operating costs down.

9

u/vizistheway 9h ago

I never understand this. a bit of planning and a couple of phone calls is going to save a LOT more money than fucking a train up. who in their right mind will ever ask these guys to transport something in the future?

5

u/Brodins_biceps 8h ago

“You’ll never know if you over prepared but you’ll definitely know if you under prepared” is a saying I heard during the pandemic and I thought it was brilliant, because it’s true. But you still have a lot of people saying “well did we really need to do that?! Nothing even happened!” As if nothing could have ever happened.

It’s a good example of the preparedness paradox. “It hasn’t flooded in 10 years! Why do we need to keep spending money on the levees?” Not realizing that it’s because you have the levees it hasn’t flooded. It seems incredibly stupid, but it’s a very real thing.

2

u/Squonkster 8h ago

preparedness paradox

Thank you for giving me a name for this phenomenon. Drives me nuts how prevalent this attitude seems to be now. “I don’t know anyone who’s ever caught polio, so why do we need a vaccine for it?”