(The Association of American Railroads issued the following on June 1.)
WASHINGTON — Carload freight on Class I railroads in the U.S. was at its highest level since December 1998 during the week ended May 27, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Carload volume on the Class I railroads totaled 340,653 cars during the week, up 2.5 percent from the comparable week last year and the highest since the 48th week of 1998 when volume totaled 349,399 cars.
When volume from non-Class 1 railroads that report to AAR is included, carload volume on U.S. railroads reached 351,890 cars, up 2.6 percent from last year and the highest since the 41st week of 2004. Carload volume was up 4.9 percent in the West but down 0.1 percent in the East compared with last year.
Intermodal volume totaled 238,094 trailers or containers, up 7.1 percent from last year. Container volume grew by 10.2 percent while trailer volume was down 1.8 percent.
Total freight volume for the week was estimated at 34.5 billion ton-miles, up 3.6 percent from last year.
Ten of 19 individual carload commodity groups were up from last year, with metals up 19.1 percent, crushed stone, sand and gravel up 9.7 percent and coal up 6.0 percent.
Sharp reductions were reported in loadings of primary forest products, down 17.8 percent; nonmetallic minerals, down 12.4 percent; and pulp, paper and allied products, off 9.4 percent.
Cumulative volume for the first 21 weeks of 2006 totaled 7,084,187 carloads, up 1.0 percent from 2005; 4,840,529 trailers or containers, up 6.2 percent; and total volume of an estimated 699.2 billion ton-miles, up 2.2 percent from last year.
On Canadian railroads, during the week ended May 27 carload traffic totaled 73,090 cars, down 6.2 percent from last year while intermodal volume totaled 42,666 trailers or containers, up 3.6 percent from last year.
Cumulative originations for the first 21 weeks of 2006 on the Canadian railroads totaled 1,568,454 carloads, down 2.5 percent from last year, and 929,956 trailers and containers, up 4.9 percent from last year.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 21 weeks of 2006 on 13 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 8,652,641 carloads, up 0.4 percent from last year and 5,770,485 trailers and containers, up 6.0 percent from last year.
The AAR also said that during the week ended May 27 Mexican railroad Kansas City Southern de Mexico (KCSM) reported total carload volume of 12,043 cars, up 2.3 percent from last year. KCSM reported total intermodal volume of 4,347 trailers or containers, down 7.5 percent from the 21st week of 2005.
For the first 21 weeks of 2006, KCSM reported total cumulative volume of 239,212 cars, down 5.9 percent from last year, and 80,234 trailers or containers, down 7.3 percent.
Railroads reporting to AAR account for 87 percent of U.S. carload freight and 96 percent of rail intermodal volume. When the U.S. operations of Canadian railroads are included, the figures increase to 96 percent and 100 percent. The Canadian railroads reporting to the AAR account for 91 percent of Canadian rail traffic. Railroads provide more than 40 percent of U.S. intercity freight transportation, more than any other mode, and rail traffic figures are regarded as an important economic indicator.
AAR is the world’s leading railroad policy, research and technology organization focusing on the safety and productivity of rail carriers.