(The Association of American Railroads issued the following on March 2.)
WASHINGTON — Freight traffic on U.S. railroads was mixed during February, with intermodal traffic up and carload freight down from February 2005, the Association of American Railroads reported today.
U.S. railroads originated 1,322,876 carloads of freight in February 2006, down 26,957 carloads (2.0 percent) from February 2005. U.S. railroads also originated 904,473 intermodal units in February 2006, an increase of 19,435 trailers and containers (2.2 percent) over February 2005, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Seven of the 19 major commodity categories tracked by the AAR saw U.S. carload increases in February 2006 compared to February 2005.
Commodities showing carload gains in February 2006 included crushed stone, sand, and gravel (up 4,573 carloads, or 5.7 percent, to 84,716 carloads); metals and metal products (up 1,512 carloads, or 2.7 percent, to 58,393 carloads); and food products (up 1,319 carloads, or 4.0 percent, to 34,518 carloads).
Commodities showing carload decreases in February 2006 included nonmetallic minerals (down 9,199 carloads, or 30.9 percent, to 20,579 carloads); motor vehicles and equipment (down 7,285 carloads, or 7.4 percent, to 90,666 carloads); coal (down 6,210 carloads, or 1.1 percent, to 550,064 carloads), and coke (down 4,512 carloads, or 16.8 percent, to 22,353 carloads). Carloads of grain fell 1.3 percent in February and carloads of chemicals fell 1.8 percent.
For the first two months of 2006, total U.S. rail carloads were up 25,887 carloads (1.0 percent) to 2,648,349 carloads, as year-over-year increases in coal (up 33,353 carloads, or 3.1 percent), crushed stone, sand, and gravel (up 11,550 carloads, or 7.4 percent); and food products (up 3,768 carloads, or 5.8 percent), among other categories, offset declines in nonmetallic minerals (down 13,530 carloads, or 23.2 percent) and metallic ores (down 7,490 carloads, or 17.0 percent), among others.
“February 2005 was a particularly strong month for rail traffic, making it a tough month to beat even without the winter storms that negatively affected rail traffic in February 2006,” noted AAR Vice President Craig F. Rockey. “Railroads are working hard to keep their operations fluid and reliable in preparation for continued traffic growth.”
U.S. intermodal traffic, which consists of trailers and containers on flat cars and is not included in carload figures, was up 73,163 trailers and containers (4.2 percent) for the first two months of 2006 to 1,797,732 units.
Total volume on U.S. railroads for the first eight weeks of 2006 was estimated at 261.5 billion ton-miles, up 2.3 percent from last year.
Canadian rail carload traffic was down 16,566 carloads (5.3 percent) in February 2006 to 293,350 carloads, and down 9,623 carloads (1.6 percent) for the year to date to 583,297 carloads. In February, carloads gains in farm products excluding grain (up 3,906 carloads, or 69.1 percent) and grain (up 1,578 carloads, or 4.5 percent) were not enough to offset declines in carloads of chemicals (down 10,551 carloads, or 16.5 percent) and metallic ores (down 6,153 carloads, or 16.0 percent), among others.
Canadian intermodal traffic was up 3,921 units (2.3 percent) in February 2006 compared with February 2005 to 172,777 units, and up 13,408 units (4.1 percent) for the first two months of 2006 to 338,871 units.
Carloads carried on Kansas City Southern dé Mexico (formerly Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana – TFM), a major Mexican railroad, were down 5,073 carloads (10.3 percent) in February 2006 to 44,246 carloads, while intermodal units carried totaled 16,178 units, down 1,125 units (6.5 percent). For the year-to-date, KCSM carloads carried were down 6.4 percent (6,026 carloads), while intermodal units carried were down 9.7 percent (3,182 units).
For just the week ended February 25, the AAR reported the following totals for U.S. railroads: 325,910 carloads, down 4.3 percent (14,784 carloads) from the corresponding week in 2005, with loadings down 3.2 percent in the East and down 5.3 percent in the West; intermodal volume of 212,529 trailers and containers, down 4.0 percent (8,818 units); and total volume of an estimated 32.2 billion ton-miles, down 3.3 percent from the equivalent week last year.
For Canadian railroads during the week ended February 25, the AAR reported volume of 73,384 carloads, down 5.7 percent from last year; and 43,370 trailers and containers, up 5.6 percent from the corresponding week in 2005.
Combined cumulative rail volume for the first 8 weeks of 2006 on 13 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 3,231,646 carloads, up 0.5 percent (16,264 carloads) from last year, and 2,136,603 trailers and containers, up 4.2 percent (86,571 units) from 2005’s first 8 weeks.