> Imagine, if you will, a truck driver transporting, say, cheese from, say, Scotland to, say, Switzerland. He knows that his load is 456 pounds of cheddar. He knows that there are 673 miles to Dover, where the ferry will take him to Calais. He knows that there is 2023 kilometres to Switzerland. He knows that the swiss will pay him 2.45 swiss franc per kilogram of cheddar. His truck normally averages 1.5 miles per gallon of diesel fuel. He knows this. In Scotland, truck diesel is 1.5 (scottish) pounds per gallon. In Calais, truck diesel is 2 (french) franc per litre.

I find it difficult to imagine this scenario for a couple of reasons. 1) The market for British cheeses in Switzerland is small enough that it would be more efficient to send it by parcel than by lorry. 2) How did the cheddar get to Scotland in the first place? Wouldn't it be more efficient to take it from Cheddar, thereby cutting out half of the British leg of the journey? 3) Why is the lorry driver buying diesel without paying tax? I trust you don't endorse defrauding Her Majesty's Customs and Excise Inspectorate.

> Can the cheese pay for the diesel? Would it be cheaper to fill his fuel tank (he must fill up once during the trip) before or after the ferry? Aren't there a lot of people/companies/organizations in similar situations?

However, those quibbles aside, I do see your point. I think this is a classic case where things should be marked in metric *and* imperial measures. Well, except for the road distances, which would get too confusing (and dangerous) if you had to work out which of the two numbers on a road sign you needed to pay attention to.

Anyway, I think that anything passing across national borders should be marked in the recognised measurements in both nations, and thus allow calculations to be performed in either system with a minimum of fuss.

Indeed, you could easily make the case that the weight of the cheese in pounds is entirely meaningless in this case. Had it been a lorryful of Swiss cheese winging its way to the cheesemongers of Britain, it would make more sense to apply imperial measurements, as the end purchasers will be more familiar with these weights.

But to answer your (hypothetical) questions:
Total journey distance: 1,930 miles
Total fuel used: 1,288 gallons
Total cost of fuel in Britain: £1,930
Total cost of fuel in France: FRF 5,855 (£543)
Weight of cheese: 207 kilos
Value of cheese: CHF 507 (£204)

So: it would be cheaper to fill up in France, but it still wouldn't be worth doing.

If anyone understands this post, can they let me know what I've argued for here? thanks.

> jul"notice how I sneaked in an argument for common currency in the truck driver story"ian

winter"Well, yes, if you mean a global currency"mute