(The Association of American Railroads issued the following on May 7, 2009.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Freight traffic on U.S. railroads was down sharply during April 2009 in comparison with April 2008, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Carload traffic fell 23.0 percent (382,612 carloads) compared to April 2008 to 1,278,794 carloads. U.S. rail intermodal traffic (which is not included in carloads) fell 17.9 percent (199,530 trailers and containers) to 917,981 units in April.
Canadian rail carload traffic (which includes both the Canadian and U.S. operations of CN and Canadian Pacific, the two largest Canadian railroads) fell 26.4 percent (106,705 carloads) in April 2009 to 296,721 carloads, while Canadian intermodal traffic fell 44,846 units (18.2 percent) to 201,418 trailers and containers.
U.S. rail carloadings fell in April 2009 in all 19 major commodity groups tracked by the AAR, including coal (down 96,494 carloads, or 13.4 percent); metals and metal products (down 41,322 carloads, or 62.1 percent); motor vehicles and equipment (down 40,820 carloads, or 46.7 percent); and grain (down 35,407 carloads, or 28.3 percent.
Canadian carload declines in April 2009 were led by chemicals (down 32.7 percent, or 25,464 carloads); metallic ores (down 21,207 carloads, or 32.7 percent); and coal (down 15,813 carloads, or 37.1 percent).
“Unfortunately, it’s hard to find much in rail traffic data in April to support the idea that the economy is starting to see ‘green shoots’ — it may still just be weeds,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray. “That said, rail service right now is top notch, and railroads are well positioned to do their part to get America moving again once the economy kicks into high gear.”
Mexican rail carload originations (which include Ferrocarril Mexicano and Kansas City Southern dé Mexico) were down 29.2 percent (20,868 carloads) in April 2009, while intermodal originations were down 29.3 percent (9,998 trailers and containers).
For the first four months of 2009, carload traffic was down 18.2 percent (1,010,958 carloads) on U.S. railroads; down 22.2 percent (297,603 carloads) on Canadian railroads; and down 13.0 percent (27,689 carloads) on Mexican railroads. In 2009 through April, intermodal traffic was down 16.2 percent (611,332 trailers and containers) on U.S. railroads; down 14.0 percent (112,651 units) on Canadian railroads; and down 20.2 percent (20,339 units) on Mexican railroads.
Total volume on U.S. railroads was estimated at 482.0 billion ton-miles, down 17.3 percent from the first four months of 2008.
For just the week ended May 2, the AAR reported the following totals for U.S. railroads: 253,573 carloads, down 24.5 percent from the corresponding week in 2008; intermodal volume of 187,203 trailers and containers, down 16.8 percent; and total volume of an estimated 27.0 billion ton-miles, down 23.3 percent from the equivalent week last year.
For Canadian railroads during the week ended May 2, the AAR reported volume of 57,663 carloads, down 25.5 percent from last year; and 41,111 trailers and containers, down 17.9 percent from the corresponding week in 2008.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 17 weeks of 2009 on 12 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads was 5,573,088 carloads, down 19.0 percent (1,308,561 carloads) from last year; and 3,853,300 trailers and containers, down 15.8 percent (723,983 trailers and containers) from 2008’s first 17 weeks.