(Source: Association of American Railroads, November 17, 2011)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported gains in weekly rail traffic, with U.S. railroads originating 299,591 carloads for the week ending Nov. 12, 2011, up 0.5 percent compared with the same week last year. Intermodal volume for the week totaled 244,972 trailers and containers, up 5.2 percent compared with the same week last year.
Ten of the 20 carload commodity groups posted increases compared with the same week in 2010, including: petroleum products, up 22 percent; metals and products, up 13.9 percent, and motor vehicles and equipment, up 13.2 percent. The groups showing a significant decrease in weekly traffic included: grain, down 18.3 percent, and primary forest products, down 11.4 percent.
Weekly carload volume on Eastern railroads was up 1.6 percent compared with the same week last year. In the West, weekly carload volume was down 0.2 percent compared with the same week in 2010.
For the first 45 weeks of 2011, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 13,142,833 carloads, up 1.8 percent from the same point last year, and 10,340,944 trailers and containers, up 5.2 percent from last year.
Full story: www.aar.org