(The Association of American Railroads issued the following news release on June 16.)
WASHINGTON — Freight traffic on U.S. railroads was down during the week ended June 11 in comparison with the corresponding week last year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Carload freight totaled 332,491 cars, down 2.2 percent from last year. Carload traffic was down 3.7 percent in the East and 0.9 percent in the West.
Intermodal volume, which is not included in the carload data, totaled 225,329 trailers or containers, up 3.1 percent from last year, with containers up 5.4 percent and trailers down 3.3 percent.
Total volume was estimated at 31.8 billion ton-miles, down 1.2 percent from last year.
In spite of the overall decline in rail freight volume, ten of 19 carload commodities were up from last year, with metallic ores up 11.2 percent; crushed stone, sand and gravel up 9.5 percent and lumber and wood products up 7.1 percent. On the downside, metals were off 14.3 percent; nonmetallic minerals declined 13.9 percent; and coal fell 3.4 percent.
Cumulative volume for the first 23 weeks of 2005 totaled 7,682,318 carloads, up 1.8 percent from 2004; 4,980,015 trailers or containers, up 6.4 percent; and total volume of an estimated 729.4 billion ton-miles, up 2.6 percent from last year.
On Canadian railroads, during the week ended June 11 carload traffic totaled 72,750 cars, down 4.9 percent from last year while intermodal volume totaled 42,451 trailers or containers, down 1.5 percent from last year.
Cumulative originations for the first 23 weeks of 2005 on the Canadian railroads totaled 1,764,433 carloads, up 0.1 percent from last year, and 971,375 trailers and containers, up 2.7 percent from last year.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 23 weeks of 2005 on U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 9,446,751 carloads, up 1.5 percent from last year and 5,951,390 trailers and containers, up 5.8 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 11 totaled 8,391 cars, down 9.6 percent from last year. TFM reported intermodal volume of 4,342 originated trailers or containers, down 0.9 percent from the 23rd week of 2004. For the first 23 weeks of 2005, TFM reported cumulative originated volume of 198,821 cars, up 1.2 percent from last year, and 89,068 trailers or containers, up 8.5 percent.
Railroads reporting to AAR account for 87 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. The Canadian railroads reporting to the AAR account for 91 percent of Canadian rail traffic. Railroads provide more than 40 percent of U.S. intercity freight transportation, more than any other mode, and rail traffic figures are regarded as an important economic indicator.
AAR is the world’s leading railroad policy, research and technology organization focusing on the safety and productivity of rail carriers.
This press release is available weekly via the Internet at www.aar.org.
NOTE: Effective June 1, 2005, the traffic of the Great Lakes Transportation Company — including the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad and the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway — will be reported in the traffic figures reported by the Canadian National Railway. This will result in a shift of that BLE and DMIR traffic from a U.S. to a Canadian classification.