(The Associated Press circulated the following on August 14.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Shipments carried by U.S. railroads fell 0.1 percent last week compared with a year earlier, a major industry trade group reported Thursday.
The Association of American Railroads said freight carried on the tracks for the week ending Aug. 9 totaled 328,281 carloads.
Volume rose 1.2 percent in the West, where cargo is primarily carried by Union Pacific Corp. and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. Volumes fell 2 percent in the East, where freight is mostly hauled by CSX Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp.
Intermodal volume, which is not included in the carload data, fell 1.4 percent from a year ago. Intermodal involves moving freight from truck to rail.
By commodity, 12 out of 19 commodity segments fell during the week, led by a 30 percent drop off in shipments of motor vehicles and equipment.
So far this year, shipments on U.S. rails are up 0.3 percent compared with the same period in 2007.