(Source: Association of American Railroads press release, January 26, 2012)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported an increase in weekly rail traffic for the week ending January 21, 2012, with U.S. railroads originating 287,734 carloads, up 1.6 percent compared with the same week last year. Intermodal volume for the week totaled 219,706 trailers and containers, up 3 percent compared with the same week last year.
Fourteen of the 20 carload commodity groups posted increases compared with the same week in 2011, with metallic ores, up 50.8 percent; petroleum products, up 26.8 percent, and motor vehicles and equipment, up 16.7 percent. The groups showing a significant decrease in weekly traffic included grain, down 10.7 percent, and farm products excluding grain, down 10.5 percent.
Weekly carload volume on Eastern railroads was down 1.5 percent compared with the same week last year. In the West, weekly carload volume was up 3.6 percent compared with the same week in 2011.
For the first three weeks of 2012, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 861,146 carloads, up 1.1 percent from last year, and 642,609 trailers and containers, up 0.4 percent from last year.