(The Association of American Railroads issued the following news release on November 10.)
WASHINGTON — Freight traffic on U.S. railroads was up from a year ago during the week ended November 5, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Intermodal volume of 245,076 trailers or containers, was up 4.9 percent from last year. Container volume was up by 7.1 percent but trailer volume fell by 0.6 percent.
Carload freight, which doesn’t include the intermodal data, totaled 339,489 cars for the week, up 0.5 percent from the comparable week last year. Loadings were up 3.5 percent in the West but down 3.2 percent in the East. Total volume was estimated at 35.1 billion ton-miles, up 2.1 percent from last year.
Ten of 19 commodity groups were up from last year, with food and food products up 8.1 percent; grain up 6.9 percent; and coal up 2.4 percent. On the negative side, farm products other than grain were down 29.0 percent; nonmetallic minerals were off 21.2 percent; and metallic ores declined by 15.5 percent.
Cumulative volume for the first 44 weeks of 2005 totaled 14,670,534 carloads, up 1.0 percent from 2004; 9,890,511 trailers or containers, up 6.3 percent; and total volume of an estimated 1.43 trillion ton-miles, up 2.6 percent from last year.
On Canadian railroads, during the week ended November 5 carload traffic totaled 78,808 cars, down 2.1 percent from last year while intermodal volume totaled 47,869 trailers or containers, up 9.7 percent from last year.
Cumulative originations for the first 44 weeks of 2005 on the Canadian railroads totaled 3,347,632 carloads, down 0.8 percent from last year, and 1,904,257 trailers and containers, up 3.3 percent from last year.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 44 weeks of 2005 on U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 18,018,166 carloads, up 0.7 percent from last year and 11,794,768 trailers and containers, up 5.8 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 5 totaled 7,352 cars, down 24.8 percent from last year. TFM reported intermodal volume of 3,913 originated trailers or containers, down 2.7 percent from the 44th week of 2004.
For the first 44 weeks of 2005, TFM reported cumulative originated volume of 367,593 cars, down 4.3 percent from last year, and 169,332 trailers or containers, up 2.4 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.