(The Association of American Railroads issued the following news release on April 19.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Carload freight was up but intermodal volume was down from last year on U.S. railroads during the week ended April 14, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today. The comparison week from last year included Good Friday, which is a holiday on most U.S. railroads.
Intermodal volume totaled 223,126 trailers or containers, down 3.6 percent from last year, with container volume off 0.6 percent and trailer volume down 13.2 percent.
Carload freight, which doesn’t include the intermodal data, totaled 338,550 cars for the week, up 0.5 percent from last year. Loadings were up 1.5 percent in the West but down 0.6 percent in the East.
Total volume was estimated at 34.6 billion ton-miles, up 2.4 percent from last year.
Eight of 19 carload commodity groups registered gains from last year with petroleum products up 16.4 percent, chemicals up 9.2 percent and coal up 3.5 percent. Loadings of lumber and wood products were down 15.0 percent while primary forest products were off 14.5 percent and metallic ores were down 12.8 percent.
Cumulative volume for the first 15 weeks of 2007 totaled 4,783,604 carloads, down 4.5 percent from 2006; 3,381,157 trailers or containers, off 0.5 percent; and total volume of an estimated 486.6 billion ton-miles, down 3.1 percent from last year.
On Canadian railroads, during the week ended April 14 carload traffic totaled 83,618 cars, up 9.4 percent from last year while intermodal volume totaled 47,188 trailers or containers, up 5.1 percent from last year.
Cumulative originations for the first 15 weeks of 2007 on the Canadian railroads totaled 1,146,402 carloads, down 1.7 percent from last year, and 661,568 trailers and containers, up 1.5 percent from last year.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 15 weeks of 2007 on U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 5,930,006 carloads, down 4.0 percent from last year, and 4,042,725 trailers and containers, down 0.2 percent from last year.
The AAR also reported that carload freight on the Mexican railroad Kansas City Southern de Mexico (KCSM) during the week ended April 14 totaled 10,836 cars, up 0.5 percent from last year.
KCSM reported intermodal volume of 4,008 trailers or containers, up 34.0 percent from the 15th week of 2006.
For the first 15 weeks of 2007, KCSM reported cumulative volume of 160,693 cars, down 5.4 percent from last year, and 61,638 trailers or containers, up 9.5 percent.
Railroads reporting to AAR account for 89 percent of U.S. carload freight and 98 percent of rail intermodal volume. When the U.S. operations of Canadian railroads are included, the figures increase to 96 percent and 100 percent. The Canadian railroads reporting to the AAR account for 91 percent of Canadian rail traffic. Railroads provide more than 40 percent of U.S. intercity freight transportation, more than any other mode, and rail traffic figures are regarded as an important economic indicator.