(The Association of American Railroads issued the following on December 21.)
WASHINGTON — For the fifth consecutive year — and the 18th time in the past 20 years — intermodal freight on U.S. railroads has set an annual record, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Intermodal volume for the first 50 weeks of 2006 reached 11,875,340 trailers or containers during the week ended December 16, breaking the 52-week year record of 11,693,512 set last year. With two weeks remaining in 2006, it is apparent that intermodal volume will top 12 million units for the first time in history.
For just the week ended December 16, intermodal volume totaled 240,742 trailers or containers, up 2.4 percent from the corresponding week last year. Container volume was up 8.7 percent from a year ago while trailer volume was down 12.7 percent.
In the carload sector, volume of 336,307 cars was 3.7 percent ahead of volume in the comparable week last year. Carload volume was up 5.3 percent in the West and 1.6 percent in the East. Total volume of an estimated 34.4 billion ton-miles was 4.9 percent above last year.
Nine out of 19 carload commodity groups were up from last year, with loadings of coke up 22.4 percent, metallic ores up 22.1 percent, coal up 9.2 percent and grain up 7.3 percent.
Among commodities registering declines were loadings of lumber and wood products, down 26.7 percent; primary forest products, off 6.9 percent; and nonmetallic minerals, down 5.4 percent.
Cumulative volume for the first 50 weeks of 2006 totaled 16,773,307 carloads, up 1.2 percent from 2005; 11,875,340 trailers or containers, up 5.2 percent; and total volume of an estimated 1.68 trillion ton-miles, up 2.5 percent from last year.
On Canadian railroads, during the week ended December 16 carload traffic totaled 72,033 cars, down 3.1 percent from last year while intermodal volume of 44,728 trailers or containers was up 3.2 percent from last year. Cumulative originations for the first 50 weeks of 2006 on the Canadian railroads totaled 3,717,333 carloads, down 1.8 percent from last year, and 2,280,806 trailers and containers, up 5.1 percent from last year.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 50 weeks of 2006 on 13 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 20,490,588 carloads, up 0.7 percent from last year and 14,156,146 trailers and containers, up 5.1 percent from last year.
The AAR also said that during the week ended December 16 Mexican railroad Kansas City Southern de Mexico (KCSM) reported total carload volume of 11,391 cars, up 1.6 percent from last year. KCSM reported total intermodal volume of 4,571 trailers or containers, up 28.9 percent from the 50th week of 2005.
For the first 50 weeks of 2006, KCSM reported total cumulative volume of 570,825 cars, down 2.7 percent from last year, and 206,150 trailers or containers, up less than one-tenth of one percent from last year.
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.