(The Association of American Railroads issued the following on October 11.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Freight traffic on U.S. railroads was mixed compared with the same week last year during the week ended October 62, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Carload freight totaled 336,315 cars, down 0.3 percent from last year, with loadings up 2.0 percent in the West but down 3.2 percent in the East.
A total of 242,871 trailers and containers were loaded during the week, down 3.2 percent the comparable week last year. Container volume was down 2.0 percent while trailer loadings were off 7.0 percent from last year.
Total volume was estimated at 35.5 billion ton-miles, up 1.1 percent from the comparable week last year.
Among individual carload commodities, metallic ores were up 16.5 percent from last year while nonmetallic minerals showed a 10.4 percent gain and grain rose 5.3 percent. On the downside, lumber and wood products fell 16.1 percent; coke declined 15.9 percent and primary forest products fell 13.6 percent.
Cumulative volume for the first 40 weeks of 2007 totaled 13,044,193 carloads, down 3.2 percent from 2006; 9,267,504 trailers or containers, off 2.0 percent; and total volume of an estimated 1.34 trillion ton-miles, down 1.7 percent from last year.
On Canadian railroads, during the week ended October 6 carload traffic totaled 80,336 cars, down 0.1 percent from last year while intermodal volume totaled 52,682 trailers or containers, up 6.1 percent from last year.
Cumulative originations for the first 40 weeks of 2007 on the Canadian railroads totaled 3,119,666 carloads, down 0.9 percent from last year, and 1,861,443 trailers and containers, up 2.9 percent from last year.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 40 weeks of 2007 on U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 16,163,859 carloads, down 2.7 percent from last year, and 11,128,947 trailers and containers, down 1.2 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 6 totaled 11,619 cars, down 7.4 percent from last year. KCSM reported intermodal volume of 5,655 trailers or containers, up 37.8 percent from the 40th week of 2006.
For the first 40 weeks of 2007, KCSM reported cumulative volume of 435,510 cars, down 4.0 percent from last year, and 182,784 trailers or containers, up 14.4 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.