Free shipping has hidden costs
It takes a lot of time, money and miles to produce the things we Americans use. If you’re reading this on a smartphone, for example, it took hundreds of drivers, shippers and pilots travelling roughly 160,000 miles to assemble its various parts. That’s about how many miles it takes to circle the globe six and a half times.
Edward Humes is a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and the author of more than a dozen books. His latest, “Door to Door,” dives into the murky world of global transportation, exploring how things get from A to B and the hidden costs of getting them there.
“If you live in California, as I do, [it’s] a petroleum cocktail that travels 100,000 miles to get to your tank,” Humes said. “Via tanker ship, via truck, via pipeline and via rail. And that’s before you drive a mile in it.”
Listen to the full interview in the player above.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
