(The Association of American Railroads issued the following news release on December 8.)
WASHINGTON — Intermodal traffic was up, but carload freight was down in November on U.S. railroads, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
U.S. railroads also originated 1,174,776 intermodal trailers and containers in November 2005, an increase of 52,000 units (4.6 percent) over November 2004. But carload freight was off one percent (17,021 units) for the month as U.S. railroads originated 1,642,157 carloads of freight in November 2005.
Nine of the 19 major commodity categories tracked by the AAR saw U.S. carload increases in November 2005 compared to November 2004, and three of the top six highest volume intermodal weeks in history were in November 2005.
Commodities seeing carload increases on U.S. railroads in November include motor vehicles and equipment (up 2,960 carloads, or 2.7 percent, to 114,069 carloads) and coal (up 2,764 carloads, or 0.4 percent, to 674,861 carloads). Commodities seeing carload declines in November include nonmetallic minerals (down 6,609 carloads, or 17.4 percent, to 31,265 carloads), chemicals (down 6,148 carloads, or 4.2 percent, to 141,741 carloads), and metallic ores (down 5,474 carloads, or 13.6 percent, to 34,733 carloads).
For the first 11 months of 2005, total U.S. rail carloads were up 129,583 carloads (0.8 percent) to 15,973,202 carloads, as year-over-year increases in coal (up 100,846 carloads, or 1.6 percent), crushed stone, sand, and gravel (up 72,286 carloads, or 7.2 percent), and grain mill products (up 21,906 carloads, or 5.1 percent), among other categories, offset declines in motor vehicles and equipment (down 25,539 carloads, or 2.3 percent) and waste and scrap materials (down 24,861 carloads, or 5.0 percent), among others. For the year to date, 11 of the 19 major commodity categories tracked by the AAR saw carload gains for U.S. railroads.
“The amount of coal that railroads haul to power plants across the country and to ports for export is enormous, accounting for approximately 40 percent of U.S. freight railroads’ non-intermodal carload traffic,” said AAR Vice President Craig F. Rockey. “Cost-effective coal-fired electricity boosts our standard of living and gives our manufacturers an appreciable competitive advantage in the global marketplace.”
U.S. intermodal traffic, which consists of trailers and containers on flat cars and is not included in carload figures, totaled 10,820,211 units in 2005 through November, up 623,298 units (6.1 percent) from the first 11 months of 2004.
Total volume carried on U.S. railroads for the first 48 weeks of 2005 was estimated at 1.57 trillion ton-miles, up 2.4 percent from the comparable 2004 period.
Canadian rail carload traffic was down 18,169 carloads (4.5 percent) in November 2005 to 381,756 carloads. In November, Canadian carloads of coal were down 7,142 carloads (16.4 percent) to 36,288 carloads, carloads of chemicals were down 4,222 carloads (5.6 percent) to 70,591 carloads, and carloads of metallic ores were down 4,139 carloads (8.6 percent) to 44,061 carloads. Canadian carloads of farm products excluding grain were up 2,509 carloads (20.2 percent) in November to 14,930 carloads.
In 2005 through November, Canadian carloadings were down 43,715 carloads (1.2 percent) to 3,650,580 carloads. Coal was up 5,906 carloads (1.5 percent) to 408,326 carloads, and farm products excluding grain was up 14,137 carloads (17.2 percent) to 96,360 carloads, but many other commodity categories were down, including motor vehicles and equipment (down 17,436 carloads, or 4.9 percent), chemicals (down 13,433 carloads, or 1.9 percent), and grain (down 10,975 carloads, or 2.6 percent). Traffic levels for the first 11 months of 2005 for Canadian railroads were up for 7 of the 19 major commodity categories tracked by the AAR.
Canadian intermodal traffic of 229,349 trailers and containers in November 2005 was up 12,456 units (5.7 percent) compared with November 2004. For the first 11 months of 2005, Canadian intermodal traffic totaled 2,085,737 units, up 3.5 percent (69,699 units) from 2004.
Carloads originated on Kansas City Southern dé Mexico (formerly Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana – TFM), a major Mexican railroad, were down 5,732 carloads (13.2 percent) in November 2005 to 37,716 carloads, while intermodal originations of 20,008 units were down 405 units (2.0 percent). For the first 11 months of 2005, the railroad’s carloadings were down 19,961 carloads (4.8 percent) to 397,957 carloads, while intermodal traffic was up 3,653 units (2.0 percent) to 185,427 units.
For just the week ended December 3, the AAR reported the following totals for U.S. railroads: 335,861 carloads, down 1.8 percent from the corresponding week in 2004, with loadings down 2.3 percent in the East and down 1.4 percent in the West; intermodal volume of 243,722 trailers and containers, up 4.7 percent and the ninth highest weekly total ever; and total rail traffic volume of an estimated 34.4 billion ton-miles, down 0.3 percent from the equivalent week last year.
For Canadian railroads during the week ended December 3, the AAR reported volume of 76,263 carloads, down 5.5 percent from last year; and 45,215 trailers and containers, up 2.5 percent from the corresponding week in 2004.
Combined cumulative rail volume for the first 48 weeks of 2005 on 13 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 19,623,782 carloads, up 0.4 percent (85,868 carloads) from last year, and 12,905,948 trailers and containers, up 5.7 percent (692,997 units) from 2004’s first 48 weeks.