For the week ending Oct. 16, 2021, total U.S. rail traffic dropped 4.2% from same week last year, with intermodal losses dragging down carload gains for the 11th consecutive week, according the Association of American Railroads’ Oct. 20 report.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) now has 40 weeks of traffic data for 2021. Total traffic (carload and intermodal) rose 7.6% in North America—climbing 8.7% in the U.S., 4.7% in Canada, and 4.1% in Mexico from the same point last year.
Continual reiteration of statistical data and talking points is a necessary but often tiring aspect of being an industry trade association. The Association of American Railroads, one of the principal voices of the railroads, has over many years been presenting arguments supporting railroad economic, social and environmental benefits, and pushing back against those who would undermine “sound public policy and balanced regulation.” Now, AAR’s advocacy has encountered a different type of potential “adversary”—activist Surface Transportation Board Chairman Marty Oberman, who has been voicing strong opinions in public forums, most notably, shipper conferences.
“Rail intermodal volume is clearly not what it has been and could be,” AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray noted in the association’s Oct. 6 rail traffic report, which found that September 2021 container and trailer volume dropped 6.7% from the prior-year period.
Total U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Sept. 25, 2021, was 511,713 carloads and intermodal units, a 1.3% decline from the prior-year period, with intermodal losses offsetting carload gains, according to the Association of American Railroads’ Sept. 29 report.
For the week ending Sept. 18, 2021, U.S. Class I railroads hauled 234,790 carloads, up 3.5% from the same point last year, but the 270,832 intermodal containers and trailers they moved fell 8.3% from 2020, the Association of American Railroads reported on Sept. 22.
Kari Gonzales is the new leader of Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI); the Board of Directors selected her following nearly three months of service as acting President.
Total U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Sept. 11, 2021, was 468,610 carloads and intermodal units, a 1.3% decline from the same point last year, with intermodal losses offsetting carload gains, reported the Association of American Railroads on Sept. 15.
RAILWAY AGE, SEPTEMBER 2021 ISSUE: TTCI has developed a new method for railroads to optimize hunting speed restrictions. This method uses truck hunting detector (THD) data to assess hunting risks objectively and uniformly, and applies speed restrictions deterministically.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) now has 35 weeks of traffic data for 2021. Total traffic (carload and intermodal) rose 9.2% in North America—climbing 10.3% in the U.S., 6.3% in Canada, and 6.1% in Mexico from the same point last year.
