(The Association of American Railroads issued the following on May 18.)
WASHINGTON — Both intermodal and carload freight registered gains during the week ended May 13 in comparison with the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Intermodal volume gained 8.2 percent from last year, totaling 241,892 trailers or containers. Container volume grew by 11.1 percent while trailer volume was down 0.8 percent.
Carload freight totaled 344,772 cars, up 3.9 percent from a year earlier, with volume up 6.4 percent in the West and v1.0 percent in the East.
Total freight volume for the week was estimated at 33.9 billion ton-miles, up 5.3 percent from last year.
Nine of 19 individual carload commodity groups were up from last year, with coal up 11.1 percent; metals up 12.0 percent; and grain up 3.5 percent. Commodities registering decline included nonmetallic minerals, down 18.2 percent; primary forest products, off 12.3 percent; and pulp, paper and allied products, down 10.0 percent.
Cumulative volume for the first 19 weeks of 2006 totaled 6,383,238 carloads, up 0.5 percent from 2005; 4,358,635 trailers or containers, up 6.0 percent; and total volume of an estimated 630.3 billion ton-miles, up 1.7 percent from last year.
On Canadian railroads, during the week ended May 13 carload traffic totaled 77,022 cars, down 2.9 percent from last year while intermodal volume totaled 45,386 trailers or containers, up 3.8 percent from last year.
Cumulative originations for the first 19 weeks of 2006 on the Canadian railroads totaled 1,419,839 carloads, down 2.1 percent from last year, and 839,843 trailers and containers, up 5.0 percent from last year.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 19 weeks of 2006 on 13 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 7,803,077 carloads, up less than 0.1 percent from last year and 5,198,478 trailers and containers, up 5.8 percent from last year.
The AAR also said that during the week ended May 13 Mexican railroad Kansas City Southern de Mexico (KCSM) reported total carload volume of 11,864 cars, down 4.0 percent from last year. KCSM reported total intermodal volume of 4,013 trailers or containers, down 2.6 percent from the 19th week of 2005.
For the first 19 weeks of 2006, KCSM reported total cumulative volume of 216,036 cars, down 5.9 percent from last year, and 71,398 trailers or containers, down 7.1 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.