(The Association of American Railroads issued the following on March 5, 2009.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rail freight traffic throughout North America was off sharply during February, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
U.S. rail carload traffic in February 2009 fell 14.5 percent (188,487 carloads) compared to February 2008 to 1,109,035 carloads, the AAR said. U.S. rail intermodal traffic (which is not included in carloads) fell 18.7 percent (167,608 trailers and containers) to 726,343 units in February.
“Obviously, it’s still a very difficult economic environment out there for railroads and their customers,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray. “Time will tell how quickly the economy recovers. In the meantime, we’re hopeful that policymakers focus on growing the nation’s rail networks so more people and more goods can move by rail.”
Carloadings for 18 of the 19 major commodity groups fell in February 2009 on U.S. railroads, including motor vehicles and equipment (down 41,439 carloads, or 51.5 percent); metal products (down 27,792 carloads, or 52.2 percent); and grain (down 19,078 carloads, or 18.7 percent). Carloads of coal were down 2.6 percent (15,244 carloads) in February 2009 to 560,606 carloads. The “all other” category rose 22.4 percent (4,117 carloads) in February.
Canadian rail carload traffic (which includes both the Canadian and U.S. operations of CN and Canadian Pacific, the two largest Canadian railroads) fell 16.1 percent (49,214 carloads) in February 2009 to 257,165 carloads, while Canadian intermodal traffic fell 19,979 units (10.9 percent) to 164,052 trailers and containers.
Canadian carload declines in February 2009 were paced by chemicals (down 24.1 percent, or 14,818 carloads); motor vehicles and equipment (down 45.7 percent, or 12,215 carloads); and metallic ores (down 22.2 percent, or 11,600 carloads). Carloads of grain on Canadian railroads rose 13.8 percent (5,047 carloads) in February 2009.
Mexican rail carload originations (which include Ferrocarril Mexicano and Kansas City Southern dé Mexico) were down 11.4 percent (5,868 carloads) in February 2009, while intermodal originations were down 17.7 percent (4,325 trailers and containers).
For the first two months of 2009, carload traffic was down 15.8 percent (409,913 carloads) on U.S. railroads; down 18.4 percent (112,835 carloads) on Canadian railroads; and down 13.3 percent (13,517 carloads) on Mexican railroads. In 2009 through February, intermodal traffic was down 15.8 percent (284,431 trailers and containers) on U.S. railroads; down 11.6 percent (43,689 units) on Canadian railroads; and down 20.6 percent (9,894 units) on Mexican railroads.
For just the week ended February 28, the AAR reported the following totals for U.S. railroads: 283,532 carloads, down 15.8 percent from the corresponding week in 2008; intermodal volume of 175,228 trailers and containers, down 21.7 percent; and total volume of an estimated 30.1 billion ton-miles, down 14.7 percent from the equivalent week last year.
For Canadian railroads during the week ended February 28, the AAR reported volume of 63,107 carloads, down 19.7 percent from last year; and 39,216 trailers and containers, down 16.3 percent from the corresponding week in 2008.
Combined cumulative volume for the first eight weeks of 2009 on 12 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads was 2,676,779 carloads, down 16.3 percent (522,748 carloads) from last year; and 1,847,086 trailers and containers, down 15.1 percent (328,120 trailers and containers) from 2008’s first eight weeks.