(The Association of American Railroads issued the following on October 13.)
WASHINGTON — In spite of the third busiest intermodal week in history, overall freight traffic on U.S. railroads was down during the week ended October 8, comparison with the corresponding week last year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Intermodal volume of 244,835 trailers or containers, was up 6.3 percent from last year with container volume increasing by 7.5 percent and trailer volume gaining by 3.1 percent.
However, carload freight, which doesn’t include the intermodal data, totaled 324,894 cars, was down 4.6 percent from last year. Loadings were down 5.8 percent in the West and 3.2 percent in the East. Total volume was estimated at 33.3 billion ton-miles, down 3.5 percent from the corresponding week last year.
Volume this year was affected by at least three weather-related conditions: the linger effects of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina; massive thunderstorms that dumped up to one foot of rain on parts of Kansas; and Tropical Storm Tammy which dropped large amounts of rain along much of the Eastern Seaboard.
Loadings of chemicals and petroleum products both showed impact from the hurricanes, with chemicals down 7.7 percent from last year and petroleum products off 9.4 percent. Also off sharply were loadings of farm products other than grain, down 34.2 percent; metallic ores off 32.6 percent; and nonmetallic minerals, off 13.9 percent. Only four of 19 carload commodities were up from last year, with food and kindred products up 10.3 percent and lumber and wood products up 6.0 percent.
Cumulative volume for the first 40 weeks of 2005 totaled 13,321,629 carloads, up 1.3 percent from 2004; 8,902,371 trailers or containers, up 6.3 percent; and total volume of an estimated 1.28 trillion ton-miles, up 2.1 percent from last year.
On Canadian railroads, during the week ended October 8 carload traffic totaled 77,760 cars, down 7.1 percent from last year while intermodal volume totaled 47,135 trailers or containers, up 6.0 percent from last year.
Cumulative originations for the first 40 weeks of 2005 on the Canadian railroads totaled 3,032,917 carloads, down 0.7 percent from last year, and 1,714,782 trailers and containers, up 3.0 percent from last year.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 40 weeks of 2005 on U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 16,354,546 carloads, up 0.9 percent from last year and 10,617,153 trailers and containers, up 5.7 percent from last year.
The AAR also reported that originated carload freight on the Mexican railroad Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM) during the week ended October 8 totaled 7,994 cars, down 16.2percent from last year. TFM reported intermodal volume of 4,080 originated trailers or containers, down 7.3 percent from the 40th week of 2004. For the first 40 weeks of 2005, TFM reported cumulative originated volume of 335,943 cars, down 3.0 percent from last year, and 153,118 trailers or containers, up 3.5 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.