(The Association of American Railroads issued the following news release on September 15.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Freight traffic on U.S. railroads remained above year ago levels during the week end September 10, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Volume in the most recent week was affected by continued disruptions caused by Hurricane Katrina while traffic in the comparison week from last year was affected by disruptions caused by Hurricane Francis. Both weeks included the Labor Day holiday.
Intermodal volume for the week totaled 204,817 trailers or containers, up 8.5 percent from the comparable week last year. Container volume gained 9.1 percent from last year while trailer volume rose 6.7 percent.
Carload traffic, which doesn’t include the intermodal data, totaled 326,906, up 5.9 percent from last year, with carload traffic up 11.8 percent in the East and 1.8 percent in the West.
Total volume was estimated at 32.3 billion ton-miles, up 6.3 percent from last year.
Fourteen of 19 carload commodities were up from last year, with the greatest gains reported in loadings of nonmetallic minerals up 102.7 percent; farm products other than grain up 55.2 percent; coke up 32.6 percent; crushed stone, sand and gravel up 29.6 percent; and lumber and wood products up 13.4 percent. On the negative side, loadings of metals were off 5.9 percent and waste and scrap declined 2.4 percent.
Cumulative volume for the first 36 weeks of 2005 totaled 11,972,404 carloads, up 1.4 percent from 2004; 7,924,993 trailers or containers, up 6.3 percent; and total volume of an estimated 1.15 trillion ton-miles, up 2.3 percent from last year.
On Canadian railroads, during the week ended September 10 carload traffic totaled 71,026 cars, up 1.0 percent from last year while intermodal volume totaled 40,968 trailers or containers, up 8.4 percent from last year.
Cumulative originations for the first 36 weeks of 2005 on the Canadian railroads totaled 2,719,191 carloads, down 0.4 percent from last year, and 1,529,056 trailers and containers, up 2.8 percent from last year.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 36 weeks of 2005 on U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 14,691,595 carloads, up 1.1 percent from last year and 8,454,049 trailers and containers, up 5.7 percent from last year.
The AAR also reported that originated carload freight on the Mexican railroad Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM) during the week ended September 10 totaled 7,969 cars, down 14.8 percent from last year. TFM reported intermodal volume of 3,935 originated trailers or containers, down 5.7 percent from the 36th week of 2004. For the first 36 weeks of 2005, TFM reported cumulative originated volume of 304,432 cars, down
1.6 percent from last year, and 137,773 trailers or containers, up 4.4 percent.
Railroads reporting to AAR account for 87 percent of U.S. carload freight and 96 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.