(The Association of American railroads issued the following on September 7.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. railroads originated 1,701,997 carloads of freight in August 2006, up 19,032 carloads (1.1 percent) from August 2005. U.S. railroads also originated 1,247,653 intermodal units in August 2006, an increase of 73,154 trailers and containers (6.2 percent) over August 2005, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Eight of the 19 major commodity categories tracked by the AAR saw U.S. carload increases in August 2006 compared to August 2005. ¨
Commodities showing carload gains in August 2006 included coal (up 42,295 carloads, or 6.3 percent, to 715,844 carloads); metals and metal products (up 8,765 carloads, or 13.6 percent, to 73,318 carloads); and grain (up 4,835 carloads, or 4.5 percent, to 112,390 carloads).
Commodities showing carload decreases in August 2006 included motor vehicles and equipment (down 13,351 carloads, or 12.0 percent, to 97,917 carloads); coke (down 6,305 carloads, or 20.6 percent, to 24,258 carloads), and nonmetallic minerals (down 5,630 carloads, or 13.6 percent, to 35,695 carloads).
For the first eight months of 2006, total U.S. rail carloads were up 171,617 carloads (1.5 percent) to 11,784,044 carloads, as year-over-year increases in coal (up 210,656 carloads, or 4.5 percent), and metals and metal products (up 43,701 carloads, or 9.5 percent, among other commodities, offset declines in nonmetallic minerals (down 51,408 carloads, or 19.4 percent) and motor vehicles and equipment (down 27,027 carloads, or 3.5 percent), among others.
“Rail traffic volumes reflect an economy that is growing at a moderate pace, but is a bit sticky in certain sectors,” noted AAR Vice President Craig F. Rockey. “Led by coal and intermodal, volume overall has significantly outpaced 2005 year-to-date, and railroads are working hard to serve the needs of their customers as safely, reliably, and efficiently as possible.”
U.S. intermodal traffic, which consists of trailers and containers on flat cars and is not included in carload figures, was up 495,396 trailers and containers (6.4 percent) for the first eight months of 2006 to 8,215,572.
Total volume on U.S. railroads was estimated at 1.17 trillion ton-miles, up 2.7 percent from the first eight months of 2005.
Canadian rail carload traffic was up 4,457 carloads (1.2 percent) in August 2006 to 377,903 carloads, and down 31,553 carloads (1.2 percent) for the year to date to 2,604,378 carloads. In August, carload gains in chemicals (up 6,441 carloads, or 9.6 percent) and grain (up 5,362 carloads, or 12.9 percent), among other commodities, offset declines in carloads of coal (down 9,586 carloads, or 22.7 percent) and pulp & paper (down 2,458 carloads, or 8.6 percent), among others.
Canadian intermodal traffic was up 10,990 units (5.0 percent) in August 2006 compared with August 2005 to 231,906 units, and up 87,726 units (5.9 percent) for the first eight months of 2006 to 1,574,126 units.
Carloads carried on Kansas City Southern dé Mexico (formerly Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana – TFM), a major Mexican railroad, were down 451 carloads (0.8 percent) in August 2006 to 56,513 carloads, while intermodal units carried totaled 20,979 units, up 511 units (2.5 percent). For the year-to-date, KCSM carloads carried were down 4.7 percent (19,596 carloads), while intermodal units carried were down 5.5 percent (7,898 units).
For just the week ended September 2, the AAR reported the following totals for U.S. railroads: 346,425 carloads, up 2.4 percent (8,050 carloads) from the corresponding week in 2005, with loadings down 1.6 percent in the East and up 5.6 percent in the West; intermodal volume of 253,168 trailers and containers, up 7.6 percent (17,946 units) and the second highest week on record; and total volume of an estimated 34.9 billion ton-miles, up 4.2 percent from the equivalent week last year.
For Canadian railroads during the week ended September 2, the AAR reported volume of 77,767 carloads, up 4.4 percent from last year; and 48,092 trailers and containers, up 4.2 percent from the corresponding week in 2005.
Combined cumulative rail volume for the first 35 weeks of 2006 on 13 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 14,388,422 carloads, up 1.0 percent (140,064 carloads) from last year, and 9,789,698 trailers and containers, up 6.3 percent (583,122 units) from 2005’s first 35 weeks.