(The Association of American Railroads issued the following on March 13.)
WASHINGTON — All three measures of rail freight traffic registered small increases during the week ended March 4 in comparison with the corresponding week last year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Carload freight was up 0.5 percent from a year earlier, totaling 339,366 cars, with volume up 1.0 percent in the East and 0.1 percent in the West.
Intermodal volume on U.S. railroads totaled 217,802 trailers and containers, up 1.3 percent from last year. Container volume gained 1.8 percent while trailer traffic declined by 0.2 percent.
Total freight volume for the week was estimated at 33.5 billion ton-miles, up 1.2 percent from last year.
In the carload sector, 12 of 19 commodity groups were up from last year, with coke up 13.4 percent; farm products other than grain up 12.8 percent; crushed stone, sand and gravel up 12.0 percent; and lumber and wood products up 10.8. Sharp declines were reported in loadings of nonmetallic minerals, down 40.9 percent, and metallic ores, off 9.1 percent.
Cumulative volume for the first nine weeks of 2006 totaled 2,987,715 carloads, up 0.9 percent from 2005; 2,015,534 trailers or containers, up 3.9 percent; and total volume of an estimated 295.0 billion ton-miles, up 2.1 percent from last year.
On Canadian railroads, during the week ended March 4 carload traffic totaled 74,542 cars, down 4.8 percent from last year while intermodal volume totaled 44,044 trailers or containers, up 0.9 percent from last year.
Cumulative originations for the first nine weeks of 2006 on the Canadian railroads totaled 657,839 carloads, down 2.0 percent from last year, and 382,915 trailers and containers, up 3.7 percent from last year.
Combined cumulative volume for the first nine weeks of 2006 on 13 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 3,645,554 carloads, up 0.4 percent from last year and 2,398,449 trailers and containers, up 3.9 percent from last year.
The AAR also said that during the week ended March 4 Mexican railroad Kansas City Southern de Mexico (KCSM) reported total carload volume of 11,803 cars, down 7.9 percent from last year. KCSM reported total intermodal volume of 4,256 trailers or containers, up 1.2 percent from the ninth week of 2005.
For the first nine weeks of 2006, KCSM reported total cumulative volume of 100,257 cars, down 6.6 percent from last year, and 33,860 trailers or containers, down 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.