WASHINGTON, D.C. — Intermodal traffic on U.S. railroads was up sharply from year-ago totals for the fourth consecutive week during the week ended May 4, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on May 9.
Intermodal traffic totaled 187,760 trailers and containers, up 7.8 percent from the comparable week last year. Carload freight, which doesn’t include the intermodal data, totaled 332,375 cars, down 2.7 percent from last year, with volume down 3.8 percent in the East and 1.8 percent in the West. Total volume was estimated at 27.9 billion ton?miles, down 1.4 percent from last year’s sixteenth week.
Ten out of 19 carload commodity groups registered gains from last year, with nonmetallic minerals up 19.1 percent; farm products other than grain up 12.1 percent; and petroleum products registering a 7.8 percent gain. Sharp declines were registered in loadings of coke, down 34.2 percent; primary forest products, off 15.7 percent; and metallic ores, down 8.1 percent. Coal loadings fell 4.8 percent.
The AAR also reported the following cumulative totals for U.S. railroads during the first 18 weeks of 2002: 5,774,140 carloads, down 3.5 percent from last year; intermodal volume of 3,075,350 trailers and containers, up 1.9 percent; and total volume of an estimated 500.7 billion ton?miles, down 2.0 percent from last year’s first 18 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.
Both intermodal and carload traffic were up on Canadian railroads during the week ended May 4. Intermodal traffic totaled 40,242 trailers and containers, up 11.5 percent from last year. Carload volume was 64,870 cars, up 0.2 percent from the comparable week last year.
Cumulative originations for the first 18 weeks of 2002 on the Canadian railroads totaled 1,095,648 carloads, down 3.7 percent from last year, and 648,712 trailers and containers, up 4.4 percent from last year.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 18 weeks of 2002 on 16 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 6,869,788 carloads, down 3.5 percent from last year and 3,724,062 trailers and containers, up 2.4 percent from last year.
The AAR also reported that carload freight on the Mexican railroad Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM) during the week ended May 4 totaled 9,912 cars originated or received from connecting lines, down 5.4 percent from last year. TFM reported intermodal volume of 5,154 trailers or containers, up 137.1 percent from the 18th week of 2001. For the first 18 weeks of 2002, TFM reported cumulative volume of 187,236 cars, down 2.8 percent from last year, and 63,295 trailers or containers, up 7.7 percent.