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U.S. rail carload traffic down 16% in latest week

Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief

The Association of American Railroads reported Thursday that for the week ended Aug. 8, U.S. railroads originated 274,633 carloads of traffic, down 16% from the comparable week in 2008. Carloadings declined 14.1% in the West and 18.8% in the East.

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Intermodal volume totaled 195,014 trailers or containers, down 16.6%. Container volume fell 10.8% and trailer volume was down 38.1%. Total volume was an estimated at 29.3 billion ton-miles, down 14.8% from last year.

All 19 carload groups experienced declines ranging from 6.1% for chemicals to 48.3% for metals and metal products.

For this year’s first 31 weeks, U.S. railroads reported total volume of 8,159,672 carloads, down 18.9 % from 2008; 5,764,816 trailers or containers, down 17.1%; and total volume of 868.3 billion ton-miles, off 18%.

Canadian railroads reported volume of 55,404 carloads for the week, down 27.2% from last year, and 38,135 trailers or containers, down 20.1%. For the first 31 weeks of 2009, Canadian railroads had cumulative volume of 1,846,410 carloads, down 23.9 %, and 1,243,289 trailers or containers, a decline of 16.3%.

Mexican railroads originated 11,533 carloads, down 12.7%, and 6,005 trailers or containers, down 10.5%. Volume for the first 31 weeks of 2009 was 351,153 carloads, down 15.3% , and 150,740 trailers or containers, down 21.4%.

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