WASHINGTON, D.C. — For the sixth consecutive week, intermodal traffic was up sharply on U.S. railroads during the week ended May 18 in comparison with the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on its website yesterday.
Intermodal traffic totaled 187,362 trailers and containers, up 9.2 percent from the comparable week last year. Carload freight, which doesn’t include the intermodal data, totaled 332,502 cars, down 2.8 percent from last year, with volume down 4.4 percent in the East and 1.4 percent in the West. Total volume was estimated at 27.8 billion ton?miles, down 1.8 percent from last year’s 20th week.
Sharp gains were reported in loadings of farm products other than grain, up 15.6 percent from last year; nonmetallic minerals, up 9.2 percent; and waste and scrap materials, up 7.5 percent. Eleven of the nineteen commodity groups were down from last year, with coke off 22.1 percent; primary forest products down 13.6 percent; and coal registering a 7.1 percent drop from last year.
The AAR also reported the following cumulative totals for U.S. railroads during the first 20 weeks of 2002: 6,439,441 carloads, down 3.4 percent from last year; intermodal volume of 3,447,969 trailers and containers, up 2.8 percent; and total volume of an estimated 556.4 billion ton-miles, down 2.0 percent from last year’s first 20 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 18 in comparison with the corresponding week last year. Intermodal traffic totaled 40,318 trailers and containers, up 14.5 percent from last year. Carload volume was 62,982 cars, up 1.1 percent from the comparable week last year.
Cumulative originations for the first 20 weeks of 2002 on the Canadian railroads totaled 1,221,882 carloads, down 3.3 percent from last year, and 729,002 trailers and containers, up 5.3 percent from last year.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 20 weeks of 2002 on 16 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 7,661,323 carloads, down 3.4 percent from last year and 4,176,971 trailers and containers, up 3.2 percent from last year.
The AAR also reported that carload freight on the Mexican railroad Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM) during the week ended May 18 totaled 11,078 cars originated or received from connecting lines, down 2.9 percent from last year. TFM reported intermodal volume of 3,683 trailers or containers, down 14.9 percent from the 20th week of 2001. For the first 20 weeks of 2002, TFM reported cumulative volume of 208,369 cars, down 4.1 percent from last year, and 70,626 trailers or containers, up 4.4 percent.