(The following report was issued by the Association of American Railroads on May 26.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Largely because of an accident that disrupted coal traffic out of the Powder River Basin, rail freight traffic on U.S. railroads was down during the week ended May 21 in comparison with the corresponding week last year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Carload freight was down more than 12,000 (3.5 percent) units from last year, totaling 331,604 cars, down 3.5 percent from last year. Coal volume alone was off more than 18,000 cars. Carload traffic was up 2.0 percent in the East, but down 8.1 percent in the West.
Intermodal volume, which is not included in the carload data, totaled 224,906 trailers or containers, up 3.1 percent from last year, with containers up 5.3 percent and trailers down 3.3 percent.
Total volume was estimated at 30.7 billion ton-miles, down 3.5 percent from last year.
Eleven of 19 carload commodities were up from last year, with metallic ores up 16.2 percent; crushed stone, gravel and sand up 12.8 percent; and stone, clay and glass products up 7.7 percent. Coal traffic was off 13.6 percent, and coke was down 10.3 percent.
Cumulative volume for the first 20 weeks of 2005 totaled 6,823,380 carloads, up 2.1 percent from 2004; 4,337,700 trailers or containers, up 6.9 percent; and total volume of an estimated 634.8 billion ton-miles, up 2.9 percent from last year.
On Canadian railroads, during the week ended May 21 carload traffic totaled 71,035 cars, down 3.1 percent from last year while intermodal volume totaled 45,096 trailers or containers, up 1.5 percent from last year.
Cumulative originations for the first 20 weeks of 2005 on the Canadian railroads totaled 1,406,082 carloads, up 0.3 percent from last year, and 845,867 trailers and containers, up 3.2 percent from last year.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 20 weeks of 2005 on 15 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 8,229,462 carloads, up 1.7 percent from last year and 5,183,567 trailers and containers, up 6.3 percent from last year.
The AAR also reported that originated carload freight on the Mexican railroad Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM) during the week ended May 21 totaled 8,877 cars, down 0.1 percent from last year. TFM reported intermodal volume of 4,514 originated trailers or containers, up 13.1 percent from the20th week of 2004. For the first 20 weeks of 2005, TFM reported cumulative originated volume of 173,104 cars, up 2.3 percent from last year, and 76,723 trailers or containers, up 9.6 percent.
Railroads reporting to AAR account for 88 percent of U.S. carload freight and 95 percent of rail intermodal volume. When the U.S. operations of Canadian railroads are included, the figures increase to 95 percent and 100 percent. The Canadian railroads reporting to the AAR account for 90 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.