(The Association of American Railroads posted the following story on its website on February 5.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Both carload and intermodal traffic on U.S. railroads showed gain in January 2004 compared with January 2003, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Carload volume totaled 1,305,668 cars, 2.5 percent (31,534 carloads) while intermodal traffic totaled 781,735 trailers or containers, up5.4 percent (40,107 trailers or containers). Total volume was estimated at 116.5 billion ton-miles, up 3.6 percent from January 2003.
On the carload side, commodities with significant gains in January 2004 included coal (up 11,682 carloads, or 2.3 percent); grain (up 9,169 carloads, or 10.4 percent); crushed stone, sand, and gravel (up 7,024 carloads, or 11.0 percent); and coke (up 5,273 carloads, or 30.6 percent). All told, 13 of the 19 commodity categories tracked by the AAR saw gains in carloadings in January 2004 compared with January 2003. Commodities with carload declines in January 2004 included motor vehicles and equipment (down 12,092 carloads, or 12.9 percent) and metallic ores (down 4,540 carloads, or 9.1 percent).
Intermodal ? the movement of truck trailers or containers on rail cars ? accounts for approximately 22 percent of U.S. Class I rail revenue. Over the past 10 years, it has been the fastest growing major segment of the U.S. freight rail industry. In January 2004, the trailer component of intermodal was up 11.2 percent (20,299 units), while containers were up 3.5 percent (19,808 units).
“The railroads came out of the blocks quickly during the first month of the year,” noted AAR Vice President Craig F. Rockey. “Even with substantially depressed motor vehicle traffic and severe winter weather in parts of the country that hampered rail operations, the industry posted healthy increases in both carload and intermodal traffic in January. We obviously hope for continued strong traffic gains in the coming months.”
Canadian rail carload traffic was up 3.1 percent (7,562 carloads) and Canadian intermodal traffic was down 2.1 percent (3,351 units) in January 2004 compared with January 2003. Grain traffic on Canadian carriers was up 26.6 percent (6,885 carloads); carloads of metallic ores were up 28.7 percent (2,408 carloads). On the down side, carloads of motor vehicles and equipment were down 6.2 percent (1,911 carloads) and carloads of chemicals were down 2.2 percent (1,294 carloads).
Carloads originated on Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM), a major Mexican railroad, totaled 31,865 in January 2004, down 10.3 percent (3,659 carloads), while intermodal originations of 11,806 units were down 20.6 percent (3,066 trailers and containers).
For just the week ended January 31, the AAR reported the following totals for U.S. railroads: 318,515 carloads, up 0.5 percent from the corresponding week in 2003, with loadings up 5.0 percent in the West but down 4.9 percent in the East, where weather played a role; intermodal volume of 196,797 trailers and containers, up 5.6 percent; and total volume of an estimated 28.5 billion ton-miles, up 1.4 percent from the equivalent week last year.
For Canadian railroads during the week ended January 31, the AAR reported volume of 58,195 carloads, down 5.0 percent from last year; and 37,179 trailers and containers, down 7.3 percent from the corresponding week in 2003.
Combined cumulative volume for the first four weeks of 2004 on 15 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 1,556,809 carloads, up 2.6 percent (39,096 carloads) from last year; and 937,424 trailers and containers, up 4.1 percent (36,756 trailers and containers) from 2003?s first four weeks.