Industry News

Rail Traffic Down Sharply in May

June 5, 2009 | 12:35 p.m. CDT

Freight railroad traffic was down sharply in May compared to the same month last year, reports the Association of American Railroads.

U.S. rail carload traffic in May 2009 fell 24.7 percent compared to May 2008 numbers. U.S. rail intermodal traffic (which is not included in carloads) fell 19.7 percent last month.

U.S. rail carloadings fell in all 19 major commodity groups tracked by the AAR, including coal, down 15.8 percent; motor vehicles and equipment, down 52.3 percent, and metals and metal products, down 62.7 percent. Chemicals carloads were down 18.3 percent and grain was down 24.5 percent.

"May marked the second straight month in which U.S. rail coal carloadings had double-digit declines, a consequence of lower electricity demand and higher coal stockpiles," said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray. "Industrial production is still down sharply across the board. That means lower demand for rail service for everything from chemicals and scrap metal to cement and ores. Basically, railroads are in a waiting game — waiting for the economy to turn."

For the first five months of 2009, carload traffic was down 19.6 percent on U.S. railroads, while intermodal traffic was down 16.9 percent. Total volume on U.S. railroads was estimated at 586.8 billion ton-miles, down 18.5 percent from the first five months of 2008.

For just the week ended May 30, U.S. carloads were down 26.3 percent from the corresponding week in 2008; and intermodal volume was off 19.2 percent. Both the most recent week and the comparison week from last year included the Memorial Day holiday.