(The following appeared on The Journal of Commerce website on April 21, 2011.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — North America’s small and regional railroads are enjoying a surge in traffic so far in 2011, with overall volume up 9 percent and some important cargoes growing by double digits.
RMI’s RailConnect Index, which compiles freight levels for 338 short lines in the U.S. and Canada, said reporting carriers handled 1.56 million carloads and intermodal shipments in the 15 weeks through April 16, up from 1.43 million a year earlier. Since there are an estimated 550 short lines in the two countries, the RMI report captures most of them.
The traffic counts include an 11.5 percent gain in the largest short line category — chemical loadings — to 262,902 railcar loads. Chemicals include a broad range of products from feedstocks for plastics and pharmaceutical producers to fertilizers and ethanol. When chemical shipments are on the rise, it usually means factories are increasing demand for raw materials to make products and packaging.
The full story is on the Journal of Commerce website.