(The Association of American Railroads issued the following news release on May 5.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. railroads originated 1,396,037 carloads of freight in April 2005, up 34,682 carloads (2.5 percent) from April 2004. U.S. railroads also originated 885,285 intermodal units in April 2005, an increase of 53,205 trailers and containers (6.4 percent) over April 2004, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Fourteen of the 19 major commodity categories tracked by the AAR saw U.S. carload increases in April 2005 compared to April 2004.
April’s carload traffic gains were paced by crushed stone, sand, and gravel (up 9,714 carloads, or 11.2 percent, to 96,583 carloads); grain mill products (which includes products such as flour, corn syrup, and animal feed), up 4,128 carloads, or 12.1 percent, to 38,110 carloads; grain (up 2,437 carloads, or 2.8 percent, to 88,443 carloads); and coke (up 2,357 carloads, or 10.9 percent, to 23,900 carloads). Carloads of motor vehicles and equipment were down 3,287 carloads (3.3 percent) to 95,005 carloads in April.
For the first four months of 2005, total U.S. rail carloads were up 142,732 carloads (2.5 percent) to 5,799,589 carloads, as year-over-year increases in coal (up 104,921 carloads, or 4.7 percent), crushed stone, sand, and gravel (up 25,651 carloads, or 7.7 percent); and metallic ores (up 11,275 carloads, or 5.8 percent), among other categories, offset declines in motor vehicles and equipment (down 16,373 carloads, or 4.0 percent), waste and scrap materials (down 10,717 carloads, or 6.0 percent), and primary forest products (down 3,923 carloads, or 6.6 percent).
“U.S. carload rail traffic has shown year-over-year monthly increases in 18 of the past 20 months, while intermodal traffic has risen in all 20 of the past 20 months,” noted AAR Vice President Craig F. Rockey. “This traffic growth is a reflection of the current economic expansion, but it is also indicative of the efficient and cost effective rail transport option that businesses are increasingly choosing.”
U.S. intermodal traffic, which consists of trailers and containers on flat cars and is not included in carload figures, was up 249,414 trailers and containers (7.3 percent) for the first four months of 2005 to 3,666,539 units.
Total volume for the first 17 weeks of this year was estimated at 539.7 billion ton-miles, up 3.4 percent from last year.
Canadian rail carload traffic was down 5,067 carloads (1.7 percent) in April 2005 to 287,422 carloads, and up 9,241 carloads (0.8 percent) for the year to date to 1,193,598 carloads. Carloads of chemicals in Canada were down 3,572 carloads (5.6 percent) in April 2005, but up 5,315 carloads (2.1 percent) for the first four months of the year; carloads of metallic ores were down 2,000 carloads (15.4 percent) for the month, but up 6,215 carloads (12.4 percent) for the year to date.
Canadian intermodal traffic was up 1,784 units (1.0 percent) in April 2005 compared with April 2004 to 174,972 units, and up 27,186 units (4.0 percent) for the first four months of 2005 to 713,656 units.
Carloads originated on Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM), a major Mexican railroad, were up 1,129 carloads (3.2 percent) in April 2005 to 36,418 carloads, while intermodal originations of 17,227 were up 3,817 trailers and containers (28.5 percent). For the first four months of 2005, TFM carloadings were up 5,038 carloads (3.5 percent) to 147,278 carloads, while intermodal traffic was up 5,744 units (9.8 percent) to 64,540 units.
For just the week ended April 30, the AAR reported the following totals for U.S. railroads: 355,408 carloads, up 1.8 percent from the corresponding week in 2004, with loadings up 1.2 percent in the East and up 2.3 percent in the West; intermodal volume of 226,253 trailers and containers, up 7.3 percent and the highest week ever in the first half of a year; and total rail traffic volume of an estimated 33.3 billion ton-miles, up 2.8 percent from the equivalent week last year.
For Canadian railroads during the week ended April 30, the AAR reported volume of 73,515 carloads, down 1.7 percent from last year; and 45,298 trailers and containers, down 0.1 percent from the corresponding week in 2004.
Combined cumulative rail volume for the first 17 weeks of 2005 on 15 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 6,993,187 carloads, up 2.2 percent (151,973 carloads) from last year, and 4,380,195 trailers and containers, up 6.7 percent (276,600 units) from 2004’s first 17 weeks.