(The following story by John D. Boyd appeared on The Journal of Commerce website on January 13, 2010.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The two recession years of 2008 and most of 2009 left carloads of bulk materials and equipment at major U.S. railroads down 18.2 percent from 2007, said the Association of American Railroads.
The trade group, in a monthly and yearend analysis of the week-to-week data reported by member carriers, also said December 2009 carloadings fell 4.1 percent from December 2008, and were down 17.6 percent from the same month in 2007.
The AAR earlier reported that 2009 full-year carloads fell 16.1 percent. Its monthly statistical reviews compare the data over two years in order to give a fuller look at the changes during the full recession period.
Also as earlier reported, 2009 carloads were the lowest in about 20 years, adjusted for estimated changes in average railcar capacity and for changes in the list of railroads reporting now compared with back then. (See “U.S. Carloads Worst Since 1989” http://www.joc.com/node/415803)
Just on straight carload counts that the AAR tabulated for major U.S. railroads, 2009 was the lowest car volume on record for the association’s data series that began in 1988.
“Railroads are happy to have 2009 behind them,” said John Gray, AAR senior vice president of policy and economics. “Last year saw declines, most of them quite steep, in every major category of rail carload traffic as well as intermodal.”
But recent months have seen gains in a number of cargo categories, as the economy has come off its lows from last spring and summer. “We’re seeing signs that the economy is improving,” Gray said. “We’re hopeful that 2010 will be a much better year for the economy and for railroads.”