(The Association of American Railroads issued the following news release on April 17.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Freight traffic on U.S. railroads was up during the week ended April 12, in comparison with the corresponding week last year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Intermodal traffic totaled 189,263 trailers or containers, up 6.0 percent from last year. Container volume was up 8.2 percent while trailer traffic was down 0.2 percent.
Carload freight, which does not include the intermodal data, totaled 324,700 cars during the week, up 0.4 percent from the corresponding week last year. Loadings were up 0.5 percent in the East, and up 0.3 percent in the West.
Total volume was estimated at 28.2 billion ton-miles, up 1.1 percent from last year.
Among the eight groups showing increases from the corresponding week last year, were coke, up 44.3 percent; pulp, paper and allied products, up 11.7 percent; and metallic ores, up 6/3 percent. Loadings of primary forest products were down 14.6 percent from last year, while petroleum products were off 8.8 percent.
The AAR also reported the following cumulative totals for U.S. railroads during the first 15 weeks of 2003: 4,764,378 carloads, up 0.8 percent from last year; intermodal volume of 2,725,487 trailers and containers, up 8.8 percent; and total volume of an estimated 424.0 billion ton?miles, up 0.8 percent from last year’s first 15 weeks.
Railroads reporting to AAR account for 90 percent of U.S. carload freight and 96 percent of rail intermodal volume. When the U.S. operations of Canadian railroads are included, the figures increase to 96 percent and 100 percent. Railroads provide more than 40 percent of the nation’s intercity freight transportation, more than any other mode, and rail traffic figures are regarded as an important economic indicator.
On Canadian railroads, intermodal volume was up while carload traffic was down during the week ended April 12. Intermodal traffic totaled 43,563 trailers or containers, up 9.8 percent from last year. Carload volume of 66,834 cars was down 1.6 percent from the comparable week last year.
Cumulative originations for the first 15 weeks of 2003 on the Canadian railroads totaled 918,440 carloads, down 0.8 percent from last year, and 596,465 trailers or containers, up 11.7 percent from last year.
Combined cumulative volume for the first 15 weeks of 2003 on 15 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 5,682,818 carloads, up 0.5 percent from last year, and 3,321,952 trailers and containers, up 9.3 percent from last year.
The AAR also reported that carload freight on the Mexican railroad Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM) during the week ended April 12 totaled 9,009 cars originated, down 9.1 percent from last year. TFM reported originated intermodal volume of 3,753 trailers or containers, up 25.9 percent from the 15th week of 2002.
For the first 15 weeks of 2003, TFM reported cumulative originated volume of 132,812 cars, up 7.9 percent from last year, and 53,918 trailers or containers, up 48.7 percent.