WASHINGTON, D.C. — Intermodal traffic on U.S. railroads continued its recent surge, registering its fifth consecutive weekly gain from year-earlier levels during the week ended May 11, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on its website.
Intermodal traffic totaled 185,257 trailers and containers, up 11.0 percent from the comparable week last year. Carload freight, which doesn’t include the intermodal data, totaled 332,799 cars, down 3.1 percent from last year, with volume down 5.8 percent in the East and 0.7 percent in the West. Total volume was estimated at 27.9 billion ton?miles, down 2.1 percent from last year’s 19th week.
Eleven out of 19 carload commodity groups registered gains from last year, with nonmetallic minerals up 26.0 percent; farm products other than grain up 13.0 percent; and waste and scrap up 8.4 percent. Sharp declines were registered in loadings of coke, down 28.3 percent; primary forest products, off 15.2 percent; and metallic ores, down 13.0 percent. Coal loadings fell 8.4 percent.
The AAR also reported the following cumulative totals for U.S. railroads during the first 19 weeks of 2002: 6,106,939 carloads, down 3.5 percent from last year; intermodal volume of 3,260,607 trailers and containers, up 2.4 percent; and total volume of an estimated 528.6 billion ton-miles, down 2.0 percent from last year’s first 19 weeks.
Railroads reporting to AAR account for 90 percent of U.S. carload freight and 97 percent of rail intermodal volume. When the U.S. operations of Canadian railroads are included, the figures increase to 96 percent and 99 percent. Railroads provide more than 40 percent of the nation’s intercity freight transportation, more than any other mode, and rail traffic figures are regarded as an important economic indicator.
Intermodal traffic was up but carload volume was down on Canadian railroads during the week ended May 11. Intermodal traffic totaled 39,972 trailers and containers, up 11.6 percent from last year. Carload volume was 63,252 cars, down 0.3 percent from the comparable week last year.
Cumulative originations for the first 19 weeks of 2002 on the Canadian railroads totaled 1,158,900 carloads, down 3.5 percent from last year, and 688,684 trailers and containers, up 4.8 percent from last year.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 19 weeks of 2002 on 16 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 7,265,839 carloads, down 3.5 percent from last year and 3,949,291 trailers and containers, up 2.8 percent from last year.
The AAR also reported that carload freight on the Mexican railroad Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM) during the week ended May 11 totaled 10,055 cars originated or received from connecting lines, down 25.1 percent from last year. TFM reported intermodal volume of 3,648 trailers or containers, down 18.9 percent from the 19th week of 2001. For the first 19 weeks of 2002, TFM reported cumulative volume of 197,291 cars, down 4.2 percent from last year, and 66,943 trailers or containers, up 5.8 percent.