(The Association of American Railroads issued the following news release on July 7.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. freight railroad carload traffic rose 0.1 percent (2,245 carloads) while U.S. intermodal traffic rose 4.0 percent (42,134 trailers and containers) in June 2005 compared to June 2004, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
In June 2005, U.S. freight railroads reporting to the AAR originated 1,652,010 carloads (up from 1,649,765 in June 2004) and 1,106,134 intermodal units (up from 1,064,000 in June 2004). For the second quarter of 2005, U.S. rail carloadings of 4,366,293 were 0.9 percent higher (39,098 carloads) than the second quarter of 2004, while intermodal traffic of 2,884,803 units was 4.9 percent higher (134,769 units) than the same period in 2004. For the first six months of 2005, U.S. railroads originated 8,687,334 carloads (up 1.7 percent, or 142,387 carloads) from 2004, and 5,666,057 intermodal units (up 6.2 percent, or 330,978 units) from 2004. Total volume was estimated at 825.4 billion ton-miles, up 2.5 percent from 2004.
In June 2005, 10 of the 19 major commodity categories tracked by the AAR saw carload increases on U.S. railroads, including crushed stone and gravel (up 8.2 percent, or 8,760 carloads) and grain mill products (up 10.0 percent, or 4,307 carloads). Commodities seeing carload declines on U.S. railroads in June included primary metal products (down 11.2 percent, or 7,823 carloads) and waste and scrap material (down 8.3 percent, or 4,154 carloads). Coal carloadings were up 0.3 percent (1,652 carloads) in June 2005 compared with June 2004.
In the second quarter of 2005, 12 of the 19 major commodity categories saw U.S. carload increases, including crushed stone (up 9.3 percent, or 26,499 carloads), metallic ores (up 13.6 percent, or 13,212 carloads), and grain mill products (up 9.3 percent, or 10,489 carloads).
For the year to date, 12 of the 19 major commodity categories saw carload increases on U.S. railroads, including coal (up 2.7 percent, or 92,477 carloads), crushed stone and gravel (up 8.0 percent, or 42,564 carloads), and metallic ores (up 11.8 percent, or 19,115 carloads). Carloads of motor vehicles and equipment were down 3.5 percent (21,930 carloads) in 2005 through June, while carloads of waste and scrap materials were down 5.6 percent (15,114 carloads).
“In late May and June, U.S. coal carloadings were negatively affected following two weather-related derailments on track in Wyoming that carries an enormous amount of coal from the Powder River Basin, while a slowdown in U.S. steel production relative to last year has led to lower carloadings of primary metal products” noted AAR Vice President Craig F. Rockey. “Despite these challenges, railroads are continuing to meet extremely heavy traffic demand, including moving record volumes of intermodal traffic,” Rockey added.
Canadian railroads originated 373,570 carloads in June 2005, down 1.9 percent (7,388 carloads) over June 2004. Commodities showing carload gains on Canadian railroads in June 2005 included coal (up 18.9 percent, or 7,212 carloads) and farm products excluding grain (up 42.9 percent, or 2,195 carloads). Canadian grain traffic was down 19.1 percent (8,485 carloads) in June. In the second quarter of 2005, Canadian railroads originated 999,962 carloads (down 2.0 percent, or 20,542 carloads). For the first six months of 2005, Canadian carload traffic of 1,988,649 carloads was down 0.1 percent (1,473 carloads) over the same period in 2004.
Canadian intermodal traffic of 209,681 units in June 2005 was down slightly (732 units, or 0.4 percent) from June 2004, while second quarter intermodal traffic of 558,056 units was up slightly (1,041 units, or 0.2 percent) from last year. For 2005 to date, Canadian intermodal traffic was up 2.5 percent (26,443 units) to 1,096,740 trailers and containers.
Carloads originated on Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM), a major Mexican railroad, were down 3.1 percent (1,372 carloads) in June, down 2.0 percent (2,343 carloads) in the second quarter, and up 0.7 percent (1,566 carloads) for the year to date. Intermodal originations on TFM were up 0.1 percent (14 units) in June, up 9.9 percent (4,796 units) in the second quarter, and up 7.2 percent (6,723 units) for the year to date.
For just the week ended July 2, the AAR reported the following totals for U.S. railroads: 335,610 carloads, up 0.9 percent (2,841 carloads) from the corresponding week in 2004, with loadings up 1.3 percent in the East and up 0.5 percent in the West; intermodal volume of 233,277 trailers and containers (the sixth highest weekly total ever), up 6.9 percent; and total volume of an estimated 32.1 billion ton-miles, up 2.2 percent from the equivalent week last year.
For Canadian railroads during the week ended July 2, the AAR reported volume of 73,397 carloads, up 0.1 percent from last year; and 41,293 trailers and containers, up 3.2 percent from the corresponding week in 2004.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 26 weeks of 2005 on 15 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 10,675,983 carloads, up 1.3 percent (140,914 carloads) from last year; and 6,762,797 trailers and containers, up 5.6 percent (357,421 trailers and containers) from 2004’s first 26 weeks.