(The Association of American Railroads issued the following news release on December 2.)
WASHINGTON — Freight traffic on U.S. railroads rose during the week ended November 26 in comparison with the corresponding week last year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today. Both the current week and the comparison week from last year included the Thanksgiving holiday.
Intermodal volume of 191,689 trailers or containers, was up 4.4 percent from last year, with container volume rising 5.1 percent and trailer volume gaining 2.2 percent.
Carload freight, which doesn’t include the intermodal data, totaled 295,174 cars for the week, up 0.3 percent from the comparable week last year. Loadings were up 4.2 percent in the West but down 4.9 percent in the East. Total volume was estimated at 30.3 billion ton-miles, up 1.7 percent from last year.
Among nine carload commodity groups showing gains from last year were crushed stone, sand and gravel, up 4.9 percent, motor vehicles and equipment, up 4.6 percent, and primary forest products, up 4.5 percent. Among the ten showing decreases were farm products other than grain down 27.8 percent; nonmetallic minerals off 11.6 percent; and metals down 8.5 percent.
Cumulative volume for the first 47 weeks of 2005 totaled 15,637,341 carloads, up 0.9 percent from 2004; 10,576,489 trailers or containers, up 6.1 percent; and total volume of an estimated 1.53 trillion ton-miles, up 2.4 percent from last year.
On Canadian railroads, during the week ended November 26 carload traffic totaled 74,421 cars, down 4.4 percent from last year while intermodal volume totaled 44,500 trailers or containers, up 4.1 percent from last year.
Cumulative originations for the first 47 weeks of 2005 on the Canadian railroads totaled 3,574,317 carloads, down 1.1 percent from last year, and 2,040,522 trailers and containers, up 3.5 percent from last year.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 47 weeks of 2005 on U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 19,211,658 carloads, up 0.5 percent from last year and 12,617,011 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 November 26 totaled 7,600 cars, down 18.3 percent from last year. TFM reported intermodal volume of 3,993 originated trailers or containers, down 9.7 percent from the 47th week of 2004.
For the first 47 weeks of 2005, TFM reported cumulative originated volume of 390,368 cars, down 4.9 percent from last year, and 181,715 trailers or containers, up 1.8 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.