(The Association of American Railroads issued the following on April 3.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Both carload and intermodal freight were down on U.S. railroads during March, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Railroads originated 1,308,482 carloads of freight in March 2008, down 0.1 percent (1,467 carloads) from March 2007, the AAR said. U.S. intermodal rail traffic, which consists of trailers and containers on flat cars and is not included in carload figures, totaled 856,404 units in March 2008, down 5.7 percent (51,705 trailers and containers) compared to March 2007.
For the first three months of 2008, total U.S. rail carloadings were up 1.1 percent (46,756 carloads) to 4,172,966 carloads, while intermodal traffic was down 4.1 percent (119,944 units) to 2,819,095 trailers and containers. Total volume was estimated at 431.5 billion ton-miles, up 2.3 percent from last year.
Of the 19 major commodity categories tracked by the AAR, 12 saw carload declines in March.
Coal and grain were the bright spots for U.S. rail traffic in March 2008. Carloads of coal were up 5.9 percent (32,369 carloads) to 582,574 carloads, while carloads of grain were up 13.9 percent (12,055 carloads) to 98,650 carloads. Carloads of chemicals in March were up 0.6 percent (695 carloads) to 125,391 carloads. On the down side, a strike at a key automotive parts supplier, as well as reduced sales in the auto sector, helped pull down rail carloads of motor vehicles and equipment by 19.4 percent (17,859 carloads) in March. Carloads of crushed stone, sand, and gravel were down 13.4 percent (11,301 carloads) in March to 73,029 carloads.
“Recent disappointing economic news helps explain why rail traffic is not more robust,” noted AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray. “For example, the Department of Commerce recently reported that construction spending is down, which helps explain why carloads of crushed stone, sand, and gravel are down. Weak consumer spending and the weak dollar help explain why rail intermodal volume is down. And, of course, a fragile housing market has been negatively affecting rail shipments of lumber for quite a while. On the other hand, the weak dollar means U.S. exports are less costly overseas, which is helping boost U.S. exports of grain, coal, and other commodities.”
For the first quarter of 2008 on U.S. railroads, carloads of coal were up 4.3 percent (76,496 carloads) to 1,853,601 carloads, while carloads of grain were up 17.3 percent (48,262 carloads) to 327,512. Among the commodity categories that were down in the first quarter were motor vehicles and equipment (down 9.5 percent, or 24,476 carloads, to 233,491 carloads) and crushed stone, sand, and gravel (down 8.3 percent, or 20,368 carloads, to 224,120 carloads). Nine of the 19 major commodity categories tracked by the AAR saw carload increases in the first quarter of 2008 compared with the first quarter of 2007.
Canadian carload rail traffic in March 2008 was down 7.7 percent (24,691 carloads) to 296,253 carloads, due largely to sizable declines in carloads of motor vehicles and equipment (down 22.7 percent, or 6,518 carloads, to 22,256 carloads; lumber and wood products (down 36.4 percent, or 6,196 carloads, to 10,805 carloads); and grain (down 14.1 percent, or 5,442 carloads, to 33,040 carloads). Canadian intermodal traffic in March 2008 was down 2.7 percent (4,961 units) over March 2007 to 182,157 trailers and containers.
For the first quarter of 2008, Canadian rail carloadings were down 2.5 percent (24,162 carloads) to 951,331 carloads; Canadian intermodal traffic for the quarter was up 4.7 percent (26,736 units) to 593,924 trailers and containers.
Carloads carried on Kansas City Southern dé Mexico, a major Mexican railroad, were down 5,187 carloads (11.3 percent) in March 2008 to 40,906 carloads, while intermodal units carried totaled 17,938 units, up 453 units (2.6 percent). For the year-to-date, KCSM carloads carried were down 4.5 percent (6,315 carloads) to 133,421 carloads, while intermodal units carried were up 10.7 percent (5,778 units) to 59,941 trailers and containers.
For just the week ended March 29, the AAR reported the following totals for U.S. railroads: 332,933 carloads, up 5.6 percent from the corresponding week in 2007, with loadings down 7.1 percent in the East and up 17.2 percent in the West. The corresponding week last year included Good Friday, which is a holiday for many railroads and rail customers. Intermodal volume for the week ended March 29 was 222,727 trailers and containers, down 2.7 percent, and total volume was an estimated 34.4 billion ton-miles, up 7.5 percent from the equivalent week last year.
For Canadian railroads during the week ended March 29, the AAR reported volume of 76,533 carloads, down 6.0 percent from last year; and 49,618 trailers and containers, up 2.9 percent from the corresponding week in 2007.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 13 weeks of 2008 on 12 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 5,124,297 carloads, up 0.4 percent (22,594 carloads) from last year; and 3,413,019 trailers and containers, down 2.7 percent (93,208 trailers and containers) from 2007’s first 13 weeks.