(The Association of American Railroads issued the following on September 17, 2009.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Association of American Railroads today reported that freight traffic on U.S. railroads was down during the Labor Day holiday week compared to the same week last year. The comparison week from last year, however, did not include the Labor Day holiday.
For the week ended Sept. 12, 2009, U.S. railroads reported originating 263,349 cars, down 19.8 percent compared with the same week in 2008. Regionally, carloadings were down 18.4 percent in the West and 21.8 percent in the East.
Intermodal traffic of 175,813 trailers or containers on U.S. railroads was down 25.8 percent from the same week last year. Container volume fell 20.9 percent and trailer volume dropped 43.9 percent.
All 19 carload freight commodity groups were down from last year, with declines ranging from 1.5 percent for farm products not including grain to 52.3 percent for metallic ores.
For the first 36 weeks of 2009, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 9,549,297 carloads, down 18.4 percent from 2008; 6,731,116 trailers or containers, down 16.9 percent, and total volume of an estimated 1.02 trillion ton-miles, down 17.5 percent. Total volume on U.S. railroads for the week ending September 12 was estimated at 28.2 billion ton-miles, off 19 percent from the same week last year.
Canadian railroads reported volume of 63,753 cars for the week, down 22.1 percent from last year, and 38,375 trailers or containers, down 27.5 percent. For the first 36 weeks of 2009, Canadian railroads reported cumulative volume of 2,166,943 carloads, down 23.1 percent from last year, and 1,454,393 trailers or containers, down 16.5 percent.
Mexican railroads reported originated volume of 11,612 cars, down 1 percent from the same week last year, and 7,130 trailers or containers, up 8.4 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 36 weeks of 2009 was reported as 409,418 carloads, down 14.4 percent from last year; and 183,074 trailers or containers, down 19.4 percent.
Combined North American rail volume for the first 36 weeks of 2009 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 12,125,658 carloads, down 19.2 percent from last year, and 8,368,583 trailers and containers, down 16.9 percent from last year.