for example over the last fifty years bulk carriers trading in the deep sea trades have been in cut-throat competition with the railways. how is this possible?? the answer is that users of raw materials such as power stations and steel mills often face a choice between use of domestic and imported raw materials. thus, a power station at jacksonville in florida can import coal from virginia by rail or from columbia by sea. where transport accounts for a large proportion of the delivered cost, there is intense competition