(The Association of American Railroads issued the following on August 9, 2010.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported that monthly rail carloads for July 2010 were up 4.1 percent compared with the same period last year, but still down 14.6 percent compared with July 2008. According to AAR’s August Rail Time Indicators Report, intermodal traffic in July was up 17.3 percent compared with the same month in 2009, but also down 5.1 percent compared with July 2008.
Seasonally adjusted AAR data showed month-to-month gains in carloads for July, up 3.2 percent from June 2010, as well as intermodal traffic, up 2.4 percent from the previous month.
“We typically see a lull in some categories of traffic this time of year, so looking at seasonally adjusted data may be more helpful in gauging rail traffic this month,” said AAR Senior Vice President John Gray. “Coal and autos are the two commodities most often affected by seasonal issues in July, and both saw seasonally adjusted traffic gains last month.”
While railroads brought 5,808 rail cars out of storage last month, there remain 359,471 cars, or roughly 23.4 percent of the North America railcar fleet, waiting to be tapped. Railroads added 1,560 people to the employee rolls in June. As of June 2010, U.S. Class I railroads had 151,527 employees.
The Rail Time Indicators report, available at www.aar.org, comprises detailed monthly rail traffic data framed with other key economic indicators to show how freight rail ties into the broader U.S. economy.