(The Association of American Railroads issued the following news release on June 26.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Freight traffic on the nation’s railroads was down during the week ended June 21 in comparison with the corresponding week last year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Total volume was estimated at 28.4 billion ton-miles for the week, down 1.4 percent from the comparable week last year. Intermodal volume rose 3.0 percent to 195,897 trailers or containers. But carload freight, which does not include the intermodal data, was off 2.5 percent to 325,101 cars. Carload volume was down 2.4 percent in the East and 2.5 percent in the West.
Eleven out of nineteen commodities were down from the comparable week last year, with grain down 12.2 percent and primary forest products off 12.1 percent. Loadings of coke showed a 29.5 percent increase while the volume of food and kindred products rose 5.9 percent.
The AAR also reported the following cumulative totals for U.S. railroads during the first 25 weeks of 2003: 8,046,176 carloads, up 0.3 percent from last year; intermodal volume of 4,633,161 trailers and containers, up 6.6 percent; and total volume of an estimated 710.4 billion ton-miles, up 0.8 percent from last year’s first 25 weeks.
Railroads reporting to AAR account for 90 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. 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 from last year but carload freight was down on Canadian railroad during the week ended June 21. Intermodal traffic totaled 43,005 trailers and containers, up 8.4 percent from last year. Carload volume was 60,487 cars, down 4.9 percent from the comparable week last year.
Cumulative originations for the first 25 weeks of 2003 on the Canadian railroads totaled 1,545,594 carloads, down 1.8 percent from last year, and 1,026,301 trailers and containers, up 9.9 percent from last year.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 25 weeks of 2003 on 15 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 9,591,770 carloads, down 0.1 percent from last year and 5,659,462 trailers and containers, up 7.2 percent from last year.
The AAR also reported that originated carload freight on the Mexican railroad Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM) during the week ended June 21 totaled 11,318 cars, up 25.2 percent from last year. TFM reported intermodal volume of 4,428 originated trailers or containers, up 41.7 percent from the 25th week of 2002. For the first 25 weeks of 2003, TFM reported cumulative originated volume of 215,984 cars, up 2.4 percent from last year, and 89,612 trailers or containers, up 34.7 percent.