U.S. freight carload, intermodal gain
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefU.S. freight carload traffic for the week ending Nov. 5, 2011, rose a healthy 3.4% over the comparable week of one year ago, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday. U.S. intermodal volume showed similar strength, up 3.5% for the week compared with one year ago.
AAR said 15 of the 20 carload commodity groups posted increases compared with the same week in 2010, including: metallic ores, up 23.2%; nonmetallic minerals, up 23%; and metals and products, up 19.9%. Among declining commodities, farm products excluding grain fell 17.8%, grain declined 11.4%, and primary forest products retreated 10.5%.
Canadian freight carload traffic also rose, up 2% compared with the same week last year, while intermodal advanced a robust 7.2% compared with a year ago. Mexican freight carload volume increased 3.8% for the week compared with last year, while intermodal’s rise of 25.2% completed an across-the-board sweep of increases.
Combined North American rail volume for the first 44 weeks of 2011 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads was up 2.1% compared with the same point in 2010, while intermodal was up 5% for the period compared with one year ago.
