(The Association of American Railroads issued the following press release on January 23.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Intermodal traffic on U.S. railroads registered a double digit gain from a year ago during the week ended January 18, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on its website.
Intermodal volume for the week totaled 186,564 trailers and containers, up 12.4 percent from the comparable 2002 week. Container traffic was up 18.3 percent, while trailer volume was off 2.8 percent.
Carload traffic, which doesn’t include the intermodal data, totaled 321,943 cars, 1.9 percent below the total for the comparable week last year. Carload volume was off 4.8 percent in the East but up 0.4 percent in the West. Total volume was estimated at 28.7 billion ton-miles, down 2.4 percent from 2002.
Sharp increases in comparison with last year were reported in loadings of farm products other than grain, up 42.3 percent; metallic ores, up 41.8 percent; metals, up 17.2 percent; and metallic ores, up 11.4 percent. Nine of 19 carload commodity groups were down in comparison with last year, with coal off 10.1 percent, nonmetallic minerals off 11.7 percent and grain down 6.4 percent.
The AAR also reported the following cumulative totals for U.S. railroads during the first three weeks of 2003: 923,415 carloads, up 1.9 percent from last year; intermodal volume of 499,940 trailers and containers, up 10.6 percent; and total volume of an estimated 81.6 billion ton?miles, up 1.5 percent from last year’s first three weeks.
Railroads reporting to AAR account for 90 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. 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 January 18. Intermodal traffic totaled 38,095 trailers and containers, up 13.0 percent from last year. Carload volume of 62,860 cars was down 2.5 percent from the comparable week last year.
Cumulative originations for the first three weeks of 2003 on the Canadian railroads totaled 171,196 carloads, down 2.3 percent from last year, and 108,901 trailers and containers, up 28.2 percent from last year.
Combined cumulative volume for the first three weeks of 2003 on 15 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 1,094,611 carloads, up 1.3 percent from last year and 608,841 trailers and containers, up 11.9 percent from last year.
The AAR also reported that carload freight on the Mexican railroad Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM) during the week ended January 18 totaled 8,976 cars originated, up 32.8 percent from last year. TFM reported originated intermodal volume of 3,982 trailers or containers, up 50.5 percent from the third week of 2002.
For the first three weeks of 2003, TFM reported cumulative volume of 24,516 cars, up 17.2 percent from last year, and 8,781 trailers or containers, up 34.6 percent.