(The following article by Bloomberg News was posted on the New York Times website on April 5.)
WASHINGTON — Shipments of freight on the nation’s railroads rose 3.4 percent in the first quarter, helping the companies as they paid more for fuel, battled delays caused by winter storms and hauled less coal, the Association of American Railroads said today.
The fastest growth was 8.7 percent for consumer goods such as clothes carried by a rail-truck combination, the association said. The CSX Corporation led that cargo category, the largest, with a 15 percent gain from the same period a year ago. Coal, the second-biggest category, fell 4.2 percent for all railroads.
The combined effect of fuel costs, weather delays and the coal decline “will lead to soft earnings reports in general,” a Bear Stearns analyst, Tom Wadewitz, said.
The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation had the largest gain in total shipments, with 4.9 percent. The railroad, which is the biggest rail-truck hauler, was helped by a contract it won from the Union Pacific Corporation to carry cargo between Los Angeles to Chicago for Hanjin Shipping of South Korea, Mr. Wadewitz said.