November 29, 2012
Class I

For U.S. rail freight, more of the same mix

Written by Douglas John Bowen

The Association of American Railroads Thursday once more reported mixed U.S. weekly rail traffic, this time for the week ending Nov. 24, 2012. U.S. freight carload traffic fell 4.6% measured against the comparable week in 2011, but U.S. intermodal volume continued its momentum, up 1.9% for the week.

AAR did note 12 of the 20 carload commodity groups posted increases compared with the same week in 2011, a better result than many recent previous weekly results during 2012. Gaining groups included petroleum products, up 63.6%, farm products excluding grain, up 24.8%, and lumber and wood products, up 17.1%. Declining commodity groups included metallic ores, down 24.7%, grain, down 16.7%, and coal, down 12.2% compared with the same week a year ago.

Carload volume on Eastern railroads suffered significantly, down 8.2% compared with the same week last year. Western railroads did better, slipping 2.6% compared with one year ago.

Canadian freight carload volume rose 3.1% for the week compared with a year ago, while Canadian intermodal notched a 5.4% gain. Mexican freight carload volume also advanced, up 8.6%, while Mexican intermodal rose 20.3%.

Combined North American freight carload volume for the first 47 weeks of 2012 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads was down 1.9% from the comparable period of one year ago. Combined intermodal volume was up 4.5% for the period compared with 2011.