Freight Traffic on US Railroads Declines

Freight traffic on United States railroads continued to trend downward during the week ended Aug 11, 2001, in comparison with the corresponding week in 2000, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported.

Carload freight totaled 331,959 cars, down 2.5% from the same week in 2000. Volume was off 4.5% in the East and 0.8% in the West. Intermodal traffic, which is not included in the carload data, totaled 178,304 trailers and containers, down 2.2% from a year ago. Total volume for week 32 was estimated at 28.6 billion ton-miles, a 1.7% drop from 2000.

The AAR also reported these cumulative totals for US railroads during the first 32 weeks of 2001: 10,568,800 carloads, down 1.4% from 2000; intermodal volume of 5,396,894 trailers and containers, off 3.0%; and total volume of an estimated 892.3 billion ton-miles, up 0.1% from 2000's first 32 weeks.

Railroads reporting to AAR total 90% of US carload freight and 97% of rail intermodal volume. When US operations of Canadian railroads are included, the figures rise to 96% and 99%.

Both intermodal and carload freight were also down on Canadian railroads during the week ended August 11. Intermodal traffic totaled 33,280 trailers and containers, down 2.2% from 2000. Carload volume was 56,165 cars, down 1.7% from the comparable week a year ago.

Cumulative originations for the first 32 weeks of 2001 on Canadian railroads totaled 1,978,664 carloads, a 1.4% dip from a year ago; and 1,112,869 trailers and containers, up 2.5%.

Combined cumulative volume for the first 32 weeks of 2001 on 16 reporting US and Canadian railroads totaled 12,547,464 carloads, off 1.4% from 2000; and 6,509,763 trailers and containers, down 2.1% from a year ago.