(Source: Association of American Railroads press release, December 15, 2011)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported gains in weekly rail traffic, with U.S. railroads originating 297,400 carloads for the week ending Dec. 10, 2011, up 3.7 percent compared with the same week last year. Intermodal volume for the week totaled 240,899 trailers and containers, up 3 percent compared with the same week last year.
Thirteen of the 20 carload commodity groups posted increases compared with the same week in 2010, including: metals and products, up 26.6 percent; motor vehicles and equipment, up 23.1 percent, and metallic ores, up 21.9 percent. The groups showing a significant decrease in weekly traffic included: farm products excluding grain, down 16.6 percent, and iron and steel scrap, down 10.9 percent.
Weekly carload volume on Eastern railroads was up 6.2 percent compared with the same week last year. In the West, weekly carload volume was up 2.2 percent compared with the same week in 2010.
For the first 49 weeks of 2011, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 14,318,812 carloads, up 1.9 percent from the same point last year, and 11,259,940 trailers and containers, up 5 percent from last year.
Full story: www.aar.org