(The Association of American Railroads issued the following news release on October 2.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Intermodal traffic was up while carload freight was down slightly on U.S. railroads both in September and during the third quarter of 2003, the Association of American Railroads reported today.
Rail intermodal traffic ? the movement of trailers or containers by rail and at least one other mode of transportation, usually trucks ? rose 2.5 percent (19,249 trailers and containers) in September and 2.6 percent (63,617 units) in the third quarter of 2003 compared to 2002, while carload traffic fell 0.1 percent (1,679 carloads) in September and 1.2 percent (50,415 carloads) in the third quarter.
“A just-released study by the Texas Transportation Institute indicates that highway congestion costs the U.S. nearly $70 billion in wasted time and fuel,” noted AAR Vice President Craig F. Rockey. “While freight rail in general helps alleviate highway congestion, intermodal is especially helpful in that regard, and it generally saves shippers a substantial amount of money as well. Today, intermodal has overtaken coal as the top source of revenue for major U.S. and Canadian railroads combined, and it is expected to continue to grow steadily in the years ahead.”
U.S. rail carloads of grain rose 13.1 percent (9,901 carloads) in September 2003 compared with September 2002 to lead all commodities. Other categories showing U.S. rail carload gains in September include coke (up 46.4 percent, or 7,001 carloads) and stone, clay and glass products (up 8.0 percent, or 3,171 carloads). Commodities showing declines in U.S. rail carloadings in September 2003 include coal (down 2.5 percent, or 13,630 carloads), metallic ores (down 20.3 percent, or 13,488 carloads), and primary metal products (down 7.3 percent, or 3,934 carloads). U.S. carloads of chemicals were up 1.5 percent (2,005 carloads) in September 2003.
For the third quarter of 2003, U.S. rail carloadings were down 1.2 percent (50,415 carloads), due mainly to declines in metallic ores (down 19.0 percent, or 42,215 carloads), coal (down 2.2 percent, or 38,255 carloads), and motor vehicles and equipment (down 6.9 percent, or 20,040 carloads). U.S. carloads of grain were up 5.1 percent (13,144 carloads) in the third quarter, while carloads of crushed stone, sand and gravel (important to the construction industry, among others) rose 2.9 percent (7,969 carloads).
“In September, 14 of the 19 major commodity categories tracked by the AAR saw U.S. carload gains, compared with 10 in August and July. Excluding coal, U.S. rail carloads in September were up nearly 12,000 carloads, or 1.5 percent,” Rockey noted. “This could mean that rail carloadings are lending support to the growing belief that we may be on the cusp of a period of more robust economic growth.”
For 2003 through September, U.S. rail intermodal traffic was up 5.1 percent (353,646 units) and U.S. rail carload traffic was down 0.3 percent (35,769 carloads).
Canadian carload traffic was up 1.7 percent (4,397 carloads) in September 2003, paced by gains in carloads of farm products excluding grain (up 85.0 percent, or 6,054 carloads) and grain (up 17.2 percent, or 4,732 carloads). Canadian carloads of metallic ore were down 38.5 percent (4,035 carloads) in September 2003, while carloads of coal were down 8.8 percent (2,709 carloads). For the third quarter of 2003, Canadian carload traffic was down 0.1 percent (762 carloads), while total year-to-date carloadings for Canadian railroads were down 1.2 percent (28,662 carloads).
Canadian intermodal traffic was down 0.5 percent (886 units) in September 2003, up 3.2 percent (17,170 units) in the third quarter of 2003, and up 7.3 percent (109,781 units) in the first nine months of 2003.
Carloads originated on Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM), a major Mexican railroad, were down 12.6 percent (4,533 carloads) in September and down 1.1 percent (3,714 carloads) for the year to date. Intermodal originations on TFM were down 8.7 percent (1,248 units) in September and up 18.7 percent (21,343 units) for the year to date.
For just the week ended September 27, the AAR reported the following totals for U.S. railroads: 342,282 carloads, down 1.0 percent from the corresponding week in 2002, with loadings down 1.0 percent in the East and down 0.9 percent in the West; intermodal volume of 210,099 trailers and containers, up 6.8 percent; and total volume of an estimated 30.2 billion ton-miles, up 1.0 percent from the equivalent week last year. Intermodal volume for the week was higher than any other week on record.
For Canadian railroads during the week ended September 27, the AAR reported volume of 68,872 carloads, up 3.7 percent from last year; and 44,788 trailers and containers, up 1.7percent from the corresponding week in 2002.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 39 weeks of 2003 on 15 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 15,028,652 carloads, down 0.4 percent (64,431 carloads) from last year; and 8,970,484 trailers and containers, up 5.4 percent (463,427 trailers and containers) from 2002?s first 39 weeks.