Industry News

Carload, Intermodal Numbers Continue Weak Pace

October 30, 2009 | 04:40 p.m. CDT

U.S. railroads reported originating 276,357 carloads for the week ended Oct. 24, down 14.8 percent compared to the same week in 2008 and 17.3 percent from 2007, reports the Association of American Railroads.

Since it was around this time last year that notable declines in rail traffic showed the first significant signs of the nation's economic downturn the AAR is now reporting 2009  traffic with year over comparisons for both 2008 and 2007.

In the West, carloads were down 14.8 percent compared with the same week last year, and 15.8 percent compared with 2007. In the East, carloads were down 14.8 compared with 2008, and 19.4 percent compared with the same week in 2007.

Intermodal traffic totaled 207,401 trailers or containers, down 10.1 percent from a year ago and 14.5 percent from 2007. Compared with the same week last year, container volume fell 3.6 percent and trailer volume dropped 34.7 percent. Compared with the same week in 2007, container volume fell 7.4 percent and trailer volume dropped 40.1 percent.

While 17 of the 19 carload freight commodity groups were down from the same week last year, grain mill products were up 9.6 percent and grain was up 6.2 percent compared with the same week in 2008. Declines in commodity groups ranged from 1.9 percent for chemicals to 66.1 percent for metallic ores.

Total volume on U.S. railroads for the week ending Oct. 24, 2009, was estimated at 31.1 billion ton-miles, down 13.4 percent compared with the same week last year and 11.1 percent from 2007.

For the first 42 weeks of 2009, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 11,207,180 carloads, down 18 percent from 2008 and 18.3 percent from 2007; 7,969,780 trailers or containers, down 16.4 percent from 2008 and 18.3 percent from 2007, and total volume of an estimated 1.2 trillion ton-miles, down 17.1 percent from 2008 and 15 percent from 2007.

Combined North American rail volume for the first 42 weeks of 2009 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 14,273,926 carloads, down 18.4 percent from last year, and 9,915,678 trailers and containers, down 16.3 percent from last year.