(The AAR issued the following news release on December 4.)
WASHINGTON — U.S. rail carload traffic rose 0.3 percent (3,566 carloads) while intermodal rail traffic rose 8.2 percent (60,275 trailers and containers) in November 2003 compared with November 2002, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Increases in carloads of crushed stone and gravel (up 12.8 percent, or 8,789 carloads), coke (up 28.3 percent, or 5,015 carloads), waste and scrap material (up 9.4 percent, or 3,303 carloads), chemicals (up 2.7 percent, or 3,090 carloads), and grain (up 3.2 percent, or 3,004 carloads) provided most of the gains in U.S. rail carload traffic in November. These gains were offset by carload declines for coal (down 2.8 percent, or 14,485 carloads) and metallic ores (down 21.4 percent, or 14,123 carloads). All told, 14 of the 19 commodity categories tracked by the AAR saw U.S. rail carload increases in November 2003 compared with November 2002. Excluding coal, U.S. rail carloadings were up 2.3 percent, or 18,051 carloads, in November 2003
Canadian rail carload traffic was up 9.9 percent (25,082 carloads) in November 2003, while Canadian intermodal traffic was up 0.3 percent (459 units) during the month. In November 2003, Canadian grain traffic was up 31.0 percent (8,835 carloads), carloads of chemicals were up 7.2 percent (3,867 carloads), and carloads of farm products excluding grain were up 42.1 percent (3,468 carloads). For Canadian railroads, 15 of the 19 commodity categories tracked by the AAR saw rail carload gains in November 2003 compared with November 2002.
“The North American freight rail network is second to none worldwide in terms of cost effectiveness, safety, and efficiency, and enormous quantities of commodities and goods of all kinds are transported on that network every day,” noted AAR Vice President Craig F. Rockey. “Take grain. Canadian and U.S. freight railroads moved nearly 133,000 carloads of grain in November 2003, nearly 12,000 (or 10 percent) more than in November 2002. The carload increase for grain in November is higher than for any other commodity.”
Through November, total year-to-date U.S. rail carloadings of 15,666,387 were down just 0.04 percent (6,770 carloads), as gains in coke (up 36.5 percent, or 62,795 carloads), waste and scrap materials (up 5.9 percent, or 25,511 carloads), and chemicals (up 1.6 percent, or 21,341 carloads), among others, were offset by declines in coal carloadings (down 1.6 percent, or 100,803 carloads), metallic ores (down 6.0 percent, or 40,917 carloads), and motor vehicles and equipment (down 2.9 percent, or 34,106 carloads). Excluding coal, year-to-date U.S. rail carloadings through November were up 1.0 percent (94,033 carloads).
Year-to-date U.S. intermodal traffic through November was up 6.7 percent (574,932 units) and is on pace to far surpass the previous annual record set last year. Total volume through 48 weeks was estimated at 1.39 trillion ton-miles, up 1.3 percent from last year.
For the first 11 months of 2003, Canadian carload traffic was up 0.5 percent (16,085 carloads), while Canadian intermodal traffic through November 2003 was up 6.1 percent (115,498 units).
Carloads originated on Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM), a major Mexican railroad, were down 7.9 percent (2,898 carloads) in November, while intermodal originations were down 8.2 percent (1,236 trailers and containers). For the first 11 months of 2003, TFM carload originations were down 2.5 percent (10,319 carloads), while TFM intermodal traffic was up 12.4 percent (18,346 units).
For just the Thanksgiving holiday week ended November 29, the AAR reported the following totals for U.S. railroads: 286,128 carloads, down 0.1 percent from the corresponding week in 2002, with loadings up 6.2 percent in the East and down 4.2 percent in the West; intermodal volume of 162,544 trailers and containers, down 0.1 percent from 2002; and total volume of an estimated 25.8 billion ton-miles, up 2.4 percent from the equivalent week last year. [Note: U.S. intermodal traffic for this week in 2002 was overstated by approximately 12,000 units due to a technical data correction.]
For Canadian railroads during the week ended November 29, the AAR reported volume of 66,794 carloads, up 11.6 percent from last year; and 42,670 trailers and containers, up 0.2 percent from the corresponding week in 2002.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 48 weeks of 2003 on 15 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 18,683,618 carloads, up fractionally (9,315 carloads) from last year; and 11,208,579 trailers and containers, up 6.6 percent (690,430 units) from 2002’s first 48 weeks.