(Source: Association of American Railroads press release, October 27, 2011)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported mixed results for weekly rail traffic, with U.S. railroads originating 301,864 carloads for the week ending Oct. 22, 2011, down 0.5 percent compared with the same week last year. Intermodal volume for the week totaled 245,404 trailers and containers, up 4.2 percent compared with the same week last year.
Ten of the 20 carload commodity groups posted increases compared with the same week in 2010, including: nonmetallic minerals, up 22.4 percent; iron and steel scrap, up 20.9 percent, and metals and products, up 19.2 percent. The groups showing a decrease in weekly traffic included: grain, down 25.6 percent, and coke, down 11.5 percent.
Weekly carload volume on Eastern railroads was up 0.1 percent compared with the same week last year. In the West, weekly carload volume was down 0.9 percent compared with the same week in 2010.
For the first 42 weeks of 2011, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 12,236,877 carloads, up 1.7 percent from the same point last year, and 9,613,018 trailers and containers, up 5.3 percent from last year.