I suppose thats false as the most common useage is bulk material and heavy material, the old GM plant here had quite a bit trained in. But the most common useage someone would know about are things like UPS/FedEx. I belive semis are used on a local transport while trains are used from major distribution centers going cross country.

You may be surprised but I would guess that quite a few consumer goods are shipped via rail to massive dc's from plants. A good example would be Pringles, as they are made in 1 place in the US in Jackson, TN. I would guess that they get loaded on trains to go out west as most midwest are truckable being a day away.