WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rail intermodal freight was up, but carload freight was down slightly during the week ended December 7, in comparison with the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads reported on its website.
Intermodal volume totaled 190,352 trailers and containers, up 4.8 percent from the comparable week last year. Container volume was up 9.1 percent from last year, while trailer loadings were down 5.0 percent.
Carload freight, which doesn’t include the intermodal data, declined by 0.4 percent from last year, totaling 335,354 cars. Carload volume was up 4.8 percent in the West but down 6.8 percent in the East. Total volume was estimated at 29.1 billion ton-miles, down 0.7 percent from the 49th week of 2001.
Sharp gains were registered in loadings of metallic ores, up 53.5 percent from last year; coke, up 31.9 percent; and chemicals, up 10.8 percent. Eight of 19 commodities were down from last year, with crushed stone, gravel and sand off 15.9 percent; motor vehicles and equipment off 11.5 percent; and primary forest products off 9.0 percent.
The AAR also reported the following cumulative totals for U.S. railroads during the first 49 weeks of 2002: 16,214,372 carloads, down 0.9 percent from last year; intermodal volume of 8,846,949 trailers and containers, up 4.3 percent; and total volume of an estimated 1.405 trillion ton?miles, up 0.7 percent from last year’s first 49 weeks.
Railroads reporting to AAR account for 90 percent of U.S. carload freight and 97 percent of rail intermodal volume. When the U.S. operations of Canadian railroads are included, the figures increase to 96 percent and 99 percent.
Railroads provide more than 40 percent of the nation’s intercity freight transportation, more than any other mode, and rail traffic figures are regarded as an important economic indicator.
Intermodal freight was up but carload traffic was down on Canadian railroads during the week ended December 7. Intermodal traffic totaled 42,144 trailers and containers, up 18.5 percent from last year. Carload volume of 60,367 cars was down 3.4 percent from the comparable week last year.
Cumulative originations for the first 49 weeks of 2002 on the Canadian railroads totaled 2,934,430 carloads, down 2.7 percent from last year, and 1,917,777 trailers and containers, up 11.2 percent from last year.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 49 weeks of 2002 on 16 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 19,148,802 carloads, down 1.2 percent from last year and 10,764,726 trailers and containers, up 5.4 percent from last year.
The AAR also reported that carload freight on the Mexican railroad Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM) during the week ended December 7 totaled 11,168 cars originated or received from connecting lines, up 11.9 percent from last year. TFM reported intermodal volume of 3,944 trailers or containers, up 37.4 percent from the 49th week of 2001. For the first 49 weeks of 2002, TFM reported cumulative volume of 521,043 cars, up 3.7 percent from last year, and 183,394 trailers or containers, up 10.5 percent.