(The Association of American Railroads issued the following on October 25.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Freight traffic on U.S. railroads was down compared with the same week last year during the week ended October 20, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Carload freight totaled 332,461 cars, down 2.1 percent from last year, with loadings down 1.7 percent in the West and down 4.9 percent in the East.
A total of 242,558 trailers and containers were loaded during the week, down 4.3 percent the comparable week last year. Container volume was down 3.4 percent while trailer loadings dropped 7.2 percent from last year.
Total volume was estimated at 35.1 billion ton-miles, down 0.6 percent from the comparable week last year.
Among individual carload commodities, grain was up 17.0 percent from last year, petroleum products rose 7.4 percent from last year and waste & scrap metals delivered a 5.0 percent gain. On the downside, lumber and wood products fell 15.4 percent; pulp, paper and allied products slipped 13.5 percent and primary forest products dropped 11.3 percent from last year.
Cumulative volume for the first 42 weeks of 2007 totaled 13,713,219 carloads, down 3.1 percent from 2006; 9,752,743 trailers or containers, a decline of 2.1 percent; and total volume of an estimated 1.4 trillion ton-miles, down 1.6 percent from last year.
On Canadian railroads, during the week ended October 20 carload traffic totaled 81,974 cars, a gain of 5.3 percent from last year while intermodal volume totaled 52,027 trailers or containers, a rise of 5.8 percent from last year.
Cumulative originations for the first 42 weeks of 2007 on the Canadian railroads totaled 3,278,748 carloads, off 0.7 percent from last year, and 1,958,554 trailers and containers, up 2.9 percent from last year.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 42 weeks of 2007 on U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 16,991,967 carloads, down 2.6 percent from last year, and 11,711,297 trailers and containers, down 1.3 percent from last year.
The AAR also reported that carload freight on the Mexican railroad Kansas City Southern de Mexico (KCSM) during the week ended October 20 totaled 11,467 cars, up 0.6 percent from last year. KCSM reported intermodal volume of 5,046 trailers or containers, up 22.8 percent from the 42nd week of 2006.
For the first 42 weeks of 2007, KCSM reported cumulative volume of 458,021 cars, down 4.2 percent from last year, and 193,492 trailers or containers, up 15.1 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.