(Source: Association of American Railroads press release, March 8, 2012)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 8, 2012 – The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail carloads originated in February 2012 totaled 1,410,992, down 27,555 carloads or 1.9 percent, compared with February 2011. Intermodal volume in February 2012 was 1,122,458 containers and trailers, up 26,284 units or 2.4 percent compared with February 2011. February’s average of 224,492 intermodal units per week was the third highest ever for a February for U.S. railroads. Detailed monthly data charts and tables will be available in the AAR’s Rail Time Indicators report released online tomorrow.
Fourteen of the 20 commodity groups tracked by AAR showed gains in February 2012 compared with the same month last year, including motor vehicles and parts, up 14,995 carloads or 22.1 percent; petroleum and petroleum products, up 9,347 carloads or 28.7 percent; steel and other primary metal products, up 8,833 carloads or 18.1 percent; crushed stone, gravel, and sand, up 7,715 carloads or 10.9 percent; and metallic ores, up 3,297 carloads or 15.7 percent.
Commodities with carload declines in February were led by coal, down 70,583 carloads or 10.6 percent from February 2011. Other commodities with declines included grain, down 8,009 carloads or 7 percent; nonmetallic minerals, down 1,966 carloads or 8.5 percent; and farm products excluding grain, down 514 carloads or 11.3 percent. Carloads excluding coal and grain were up 7.7 percent or 51,037 carloads in February 2012 over February 2011.
“If you exclude carloads of coal and grain, which are down for reasons that have little to do with the state of the economy, rail traffic in February was encouraging,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray. “Intermodal traffic was up for the 27th straight month, while carloads of a wide range of commodities—lumber, chemicals, petroleum, paper, steel and more—saw increases in February. Time will tell, but we’re hopeful it’s a sign of broad-based improvement in economic conditions.”
Today, AAR also reported mixed weekly rail traffic for the week ending March 3, 2012, with U.S. railroads originating 283,312 carloads, down 6.2 percent compared with the same week last year. Intermodal volume for the week totaled 227,256 trailers and containers, up 6 percent compared with the same week last year.
Seven of the 20 carload commodity groups posted increases compared with the same week in 2011, with petroleum products, up 22.6 percent; metals and products, up 19.3 percent, and lumber and wood products, up 16.4 percent. The groups showing a significant decrease in weekly traffic included farm products excluding grain, down 20.5 percent, and coal, down 16.6 percent.
Weekly carload volume on Eastern railroads was down 6.9 percent compared with the same week last year. In the West, weekly carload volume was down 5.7 percent compared with the same week in 2011.