(The Association of American Railroads issued the following news release on January 6.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. freight railroads completed a record-breaking year by originating 1,588,950 carloads of freight in December 2004 and an additional 1,029,547 intermodal trailers and containers, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
December 2004 carloads were up 2.6 percent (40,321 carloads) over December 2003, while intermodal loadings were up 16.1 percent (143,106 units) for the month. For the fourth quarter of 2004, U.S. rail carloadings were up 2.3 percent (99,491 carloads) and intermodal originations were up 13.1 percent (330,344 units).
Full-year 2004 U.S. carloads totaled 17,423,309, up 2.9 percent (483,912 carloads) over 2003. Full-year 2004 intermodal loadings were 10,993,662 units, up a remarkable 10.4 percent (1,038,057 trailers and containers) over 2003.
“2004 was an excellent year for U.S. freight railroad traffic, with the vast majority of all major commodity categories experiencing significant gains,” noted AAR Vice President Craig F. Rockey. “The top 28 highest volume intermodal weeks in history occurred in 2004, leading to full-year intermodal volume that broke the previous record (set in 2003) by more than 10 percent. Total U.S. rail traffic volume — an estimated 1.61 trillion ton-miles for reporting carriers — was also higher in 2004 than ever before. And with the consensus forecast calling for U.S. GDP growth in the 3%-4% range for 2005, it appears that railroads are well positioned to continue their traffic growth as they help our economy move forward.”
Carloads of coal rose 1.8 percent (11,382 carloads) in December 2004, 2.8 percent (46,185 carloads) in the fourth quarter, and 3.0 percent (198,143 carloads) for 2004 as a whole. Chemicals saw carloadings increase 4.0 percent (5,611 carloads) in December 2004, 2.3 percent (8,699 carloads) in the fourth quarter, and 4.3 percent (64,615 carloads) for all of 2004. Motor vehicles and equipment saw carloads rise 5.3 percent (5,288 carloads) in December, fall 3.3 percent (10,046 carloads) in the fourth quarter, and fall 3.0 percent (36,815 carloads) for all of 2004.
Grain, crushed stone, and metallic ores were among other major commodity categories seeing carload gains on U.S. railroads in 2004 over 2003. Of the 19 major commodity categories tracked by the AAR, 14 saw U.S. carload gains in December, 13 saw gains in the fourth quarter, and 14 saw gains over 2003 for the full year.
Canadian rail carload traffic, which includes the U.S. operations of Canadian railroads, was up 3.3 percent (9,899 carloads) in December 2004 to 313,155 units, thanks largely to solid increases in carloads of chemicals (71,553 carloads, up 8.5 percent over December 2003) and lumber and wood products (16,904 carloads, up 9.2 percent over December 2003). For the fourth quarter of 2004, Canadian carloads were up 2.9 percent (24,636 carloads) to 876,261.
For all of 2004, Canadian carload traffic totaled 3,480,826 units, up 6.7 percent (219,031 carloads). Carload gains in Canada in 2004 were led by grain (up 13.5 percent, or 53,080 carloads) and chemicals (up 7.0 percent, or 50,221 carloads). In 2004, chemicals, grain, coal, and motor vehicles were the four highest volume commodities carried in carload service in Canada.
Carloads originated on Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM), a major Mexican railroad, were up 12.5 percent (4,774 carloads) in December 2004 to 43,056 carloads, while intermodal originations of 17,265 units were up 36.2 percent (4,590 trailers and containers). For the full year 2004, TFM carloadings of 453,660 units were up 4.4 percent (19,168 carloads), while intermodal traffic rose 10.4 percent (18,460 units) to 195,821 trailers and containers.
For just the week ended January 1, 2005, the AAR reported the following totals for U.S. railroads: 282,979 carloads, up 0.7 percent (1,931 carloads) from the corresponding week in 2003, with loadings up 2.2 percent in the East and down 0.4 percent in the West; intermodal volume of 164,511 trailers and containers, up 17.4 percent (24,432 units); and total volume of an estimated 26.5 billion ton-miles, up 1.9 percent from the equivalent week last year. The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is traditionally one of the lowest volume weeks of the year for U.S. freight railroads.
For Canadian railroads during the week ended January 1, the AAR reported volume of 46,537 carloads, down 6.9 percent (3,473 carloads) from the previous year; and 26,248 trailers and containers, down 3.2 percent (870 units) from the corresponding week in 2003.
Combined cumulative rail volume for 2004 on 15 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 20,904,135 carloads, up 3.5 percent (702,943 carloads) from 2003, and 13,160,494 trailers and containers, up 8.7 percent (1,050,408 units) from 2003.