(The Association of American Railroads issued the following on September 18.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Freight traffic on U.S. railroads was off during the week ended September 13 in comparison with the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Total volume was estimated at 34.6 billion ton-miles, down 1.7 percent from the comparable week last year.
Carload freight in the week totaled 329,836 cars, off 2.4 percent from last year. Volume was down 0.6 percent in the West and 5.0 percent in the East.
Intermodal volume, which is not included in the carload data, totaled 236,877 trailers or containers, down 6.1 percent from a year ago. Trailer volume was off 5.4 percent while container traffic was down 6.3 percent.
Eighteen of 21 carload commodity groups were down from a year ago. Loadings of motor vehicles and equipment fell 25.1 percent while lumber and wood products were down 18.4 percent and primary forest products were off 16.2 percent. On the upside, metallic ores gained 20.1 percent from last year while coal rose 7.0 percent.
Cumulative volume for the first 37 weeks of 2008 totaled 12,035,176 carloads, up 0.1 percent from 2007; 8,266,065 trailers or containers, down 2.0 percent; and total volume of an estimated 1.25 trillion ton-miles, up 1.2 percent from last year.
On Canadian railroads, during the week ended September 13 carload traffic totaled 76,544 cars, down 3.0 percent from last year while intermodal volume totaled 53,006 trailers or containers, up 4.6 percent from last year and the highest weekly total since AAR began reporting Canadian data in 1996.
Cumulative originations for the first 37 weeks of 2008 on the Canadian railroads totaled 2,744,943 carloads, down 4.0 percent from last year, and 1,778,437 trailers and containers, an increase of 4.2 percent from last year.hr>
Combined cumulative volume for the first 37 weeks of 2008 on U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 14,780,119 carloads, down 0.7 percent from last year, and 10,044,502 trailers and containers, a 1.8 percent decrease from last year.
The AAR also reported that carload freight on the Mexican railroad Kansas City Southern de Mexico (KCSM) during the week ended September 13 totaled 9,064 cars, down 12.3 percent from last year. KCSM reported intermodal volume of 5,401 trailers or containers, up 11.7 percent from the 37th week of 2007.
For the first 37 weeks of 2008, KCSM reported cumulative volume of 383,472 cars, down 4.4 percent from last year, and 180,595 trailers or containers, up 8.5 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.