(The Association of American Railroads issued the following on February 2.)
WASHINGTON — U.S. rail carload traffic rose 4.2 percent (52,844 carloads) to 1,325,473 carloads, while U.S. rail intermodal traffic rose 6.1 percent (51,173 trailers and containers) to 890,704 units in the first four weeks of 2006 compared with the first four weeks of 2005, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Total volume for the first month of 2006 was estimated at 129.4 billion ton-miles, up 5.9 percent from January 2005.
On the carload side, commodities with significant gains in January 2006 included coal (up 39,563 carloads, or 7.7 percent, to 555,173 carloads); crushed stone, sand, and gravel (up 6,977 carloads, or 9.1 percent, to 83,808 carloads); and grain (up 4,593 carloads, or 5.0 percent, to 96,077 carloads). Commodities with carload declines in January 2006 included metallic ores (down 5,772 carloads, or 22.2 percent, to 20,204 carloads); nonmetallic minerals (down 4,331 carloads, or 15.1 percent, to 24,296 carloads); and chemicals (down 2,759 carloads, or 2.3 percent, to 117,203 carloads).
Intermodal — the movement of truck trailers or containers on rail cars — accounts for 23 percent of U.S. Class I rail revenue. Intermodal overtook coal in 2003 as the top revenue source for Class I carriers. In January 2006, the trailer component of U.S. intermodal traffic was up 1.1 percent (2,312 units) to 215,020, while containers were up 7.8 percent (48,861 units) to 675,684.
“January was a good start to what railroads hope will be a very good year in 2006,” noted AAR Vice President Craig F. Rockey. “Railroads are confident that the enormous investments they made in 2005, and even larger projected investments in 2006, in infrastructure, equipment, and labor will lead to enhanced service to their customers.”
Canadian rail carload traffic (which includes both the Canadian and U.S. operations of the two largest Canadian railroads) rose 2.5 percent (6,943 carloads) in January 2006 to 289,947 carloads, while Canadian intermodal traffic rose 6.1 percent (9,487 units) to 166,094 trailers and containers. Carloads of farm products excluding grain on Canadian carriers were up 125.6 percent (4,079 carloads) to 7,326 carloads in January, while carloads of grain were up 8.5 percent (2,976 carloads) to 37,889 carloads. Carloads of chemicals were down 8.6 percent (5,031 carloads) to 53,585 carloads, while carloads of pulp and paper products were down 6.1 percent (1,403 carloads) to 21,480 carloads.
Carloads originated on Kansas City Southern dé Mexico (formerly Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana – TFM), a major Mexican railroad, were down 5,269 carloads (15.9 percent) in January 2006 to 27,909 carloads, while intermodal originations of 12,492 units were down 2,048 units (14.1 percent).
For just the week ended January 28, the AAR reported the following totals for U.S. railroads: 337,097 carloads, up 5.0 percent from the corresponding week in 2005, with loadings up 7.6 percent in the East and up 3.0 percent in the West; intermodal volume of 226,791 trailers and containers, up 6.6 percent; and total volume of an estimated 33.0 billion ton-miles, up 6.5 percent from the equivalent week last year.
For Canadian railroads during the week ended January 28, the AAR reported volume of 74,043 carloads, up 1.5 percent from last year; and 42,987 trailers and containers, up 4.5 percent from the corresponding week in 2005.
Combined cumulative volume for the first four weeks of 2006 on 13 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 1,615,420 carloads, up 3.8 percent (59,787 carloads) from last year; and 1,056,798 trailers and containers, up 6.1 percent (60,660 trailers and containers) from 2005’s first four weeks.