(The Association of American Railroads issued the following news release on November 4.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. railroads originated 1,406,933 carloads of freight in October 2004, up 1.9 percent (26,466 carloads) over October 2003, and an additional 929,197 trailers and containers, up 10.8 percent (90,505 units) over October 2003, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Metallic ores (used in steelmaking), coal (destined mainly for power plants and export), and crushed stone and gravel (used in construction and elsewhere) paced U.S. rail carload gains. U.S. railroads originated 64,641 carloads of metallic ores in October 2004, up 17.1 percent (9,432 carloads) over October 2003; coal totaled 543,598 carloads in October 2004, up 1.5 percent (8,171 carloads) over last year; and carloads of crushed stone and gravel totaled 95,232, up 7.4 percent (6,595 carloads) over October 2003.
On the down side, carloads of grain totaled 93,107 in October 2004, down 6.4 percent (6,404 carloads) from 2003, while carloads of motor vehicles and equipment totaled 98,309, down 5.5 percent (5,736 carloads) compared with last year. Of the 19 major commodity categories tracked by the AAR, 13 saw carload gains in October 2004 compared with 2003.
For the first ten months of 2004, total U.S. rail carloadings of 14,491,501 units were up 2.9 percent (410,887 carloads) over last year. Coal accounted for 39 percent of U.S. rail carloads during this period; coal’s 5,699,881 carloads were up 2.9 percent (160,129 carloads) over the same period in 2003.
Carloads of chemicals totaled 1,299,137 in 2004 through October, up 4.8 percent (59,863 carloads) over last year, while carloads of grain totaled 933,888 through October, up 4.8 percent (42,775 carloads). Carloads of primary metal products (predominantly steel) rose 9.0 percent (49,068 carloads) to 593,744 carloads in 2004 through October.
Commodities showing year-to-date carload declines through October include motor vehicles and equipment (down 3.2 percent, or 32,505 carloads, to 995,966 carloads) and food products (down 3.6 percent, or 13,308 carloads, to 354,568 carloads).
U.S. intermodal traffic in 2004 through October totaled 9,074,137 trailers and containers, up 9.6 percent (798,218 units) over 2003. Four of the top five highest-volume intermodal weeks in history for U.S. railroads, including the top three, occurred in October 2004.
Total volume after 43 weeks was estimated at 1.314 trillion ton-miles, up 3.9 percent from last year.
“Last week the government announced that GDP growth was 3.7 percent in the third quarter of 2004, marking the 12th straight quarter of positive economic growth and the sixth straight quarter in which growth has been at least 3.3 percent,” noted AAR Vice President Craig F. Rockey. “That kind of growth could not occur without our freight railroads. This month’s rail traffic figures support the contention that the economy remains in solid growth mode.”
Canadian rail carload traffic (which includes the U.S. operations of Canadian railroads) was up 3.1 percent (8,370 carloads) in October 2004 to 282,335 units, thanks largely to surges in carloads of chemicals (59,441 carloads, up 4.8 percent, or 2,712 carloads, over October 2003) and farm products excluding grain (13,075 carloads, up 15.8 percent, or 1,788 carloads, over October 2003). In October 2004, 14 of the 19 major commodity categories tracked by the AAR saw increases in Canadian carloadings compared with October 2003. Canadian intermodal traffic totaled 178,789 trailers and containers in October 2004, up 1.7 percent (3,035 units) over October 2003.
For the first ten months of 2004, Canadian carload traffic totaled 2,886,900 units, up 7.6 percent (202,765 carloads), while Canadian intermodal traffic was up 0.3 percent (5,602 units) to 1,805,875 trailers and containers.
Carloads originated on Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM), a major Mexican railroad, were up 11.8 percent (3,958 carloads) in October 2004 to 37,532 carloads, while intermodal originations of 17,850 units were up 30.8 percent (4,205 trailers and containers). For the first ten months of 2004, TFM carloadings of 374,470 units were up 3.2 percent (11,472 carloads), while intermodal traffic rose 7.0 percent (10,550 units) to 161,361 trailers and containers.
For just the week ended October 30, the AAR reported the following totals for U.S. railroads: 353,924 carloads, up 1.8 percent from the corresponding week in 2003, with loadings up 0.8 percent in the East and up 2.6 percent in the West; intermodal volume of 235,876 trailers and containers (the highest weekly total ever, breaking the record set one week earlier), up 12.4 percent; and total volume of an estimated 33.1 billion ton-miles, which was up 2.2 percent from the equivalent week last year and tied the record set two weeks earlier for most freight moved in a single week.
For Canadian railroads during the week ended October 30, the AAR reported volume of 70,578 carloads, up 0.2 percent from last year; and 45,371 trailers and containers, up 3.5 percent from the corresponding week in 2003.
Combined cumulative rail volume for the first 43 weeks of 2004 on 15 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 17,378,401 carloads, up 3.7 percent (613,652 carloads) from last year, and 10,880,012 trailers and containers, up 8.0 percent (803,820 units) from 2003’s first 43 weeks.