The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has reported that U.S. monthly rail traffic showed mixed results in January, as well as for the week ending Feb. 2, 2013.
Intermodal traffic in January 2013 totaled 1,168,630 containers and trailers, up 5.3 percent (58,303 units) compared with January 2012. Carloads originated in January totaled 1,339,604 carloads, down 6.3 percent (90,199 carloads) compared with the same month last year. Carloads excluding coal and grain were up 1.8 percent (12,731 carloads) in January 2013 over January 2012.
In January, six of the 20 commodity groups posted increases compared with the same month last year, including: petroleum and petroleum products, up 54.1 percent or 22,892 carloads; crushed stone, gravel and sand, up 6.1 percent or 4,732 carloads, and lumber and wood products, up 14.6 percent or 2,032 carloads. Commodities with carload declines in January were led by coal, down 14.5 percent or 91,593 carloads; grain, down 11 percent or 11,337 carloads, and iron and steel scrap, down 18.7 percent or 4,675 carloads.
“The New Year brought a continuation of an old pattern: weakness in coal, strength in intermodal and petroleum products, and mixed results for everything else,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray. “Railroads recently announced that they expect to reinvest significantly in 2013 — an estimated $24.5 billion for the year — back into their systems. They’re making these investments because they are confident that demand for freight transportation, over the long term, will continue to grow.”
AAR also reported mixed rail traffic for the week ending Feb.2, 2013. Last week U.S. railroads originated 274,700 carloads, down 3.4 percent compared with the same week last year, while intermodal volume for the week totaled 249,231 trailers and containers, up 7.2 percent compared with the same week last year.
Eight of the 20 carload commodity groups posted increases compared with the same week in 2012, with petroleum products, up 52.3 percent; lumber and wood products, up 26.5 percent, and farm products excluding grain, up 18.7 percent. The groups showing a decrease in weekly traffic included metallic ores, down 22.4 percent; grain, down 15.7 percent, and nonmetallic minerals, down 12.1 percent.
Weekly carload volume on Eastern railroads was down 4.7 percent compared with the same week last year. In the West, weekly carload volume was down 2.6 percent compared with the same week in 2012.
For the first five weeks of 2013, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 1,339,604 carloads, down 6.3 percent from the same point last year, and 1,168,630 trailers and containers, up 5.3 percent from last year.
Canadian railroads reported 75,178 carloads for the week, down 2.6 percent compared with the same week last year, and 49,713 trailers and containers, down 2.9 percent compared with 2012. For the first five weeks of 2013, Canadian railroads reported cumulative volume of 372,517 carloads, up 1.8 percent from the same point last year, and 251,231 trailers and containers, up 6.3 percent from last year.
Mexican railroads reported 15,434 carloads for the week, up 16.2 percent compared with the same week last year, and 9,842 trailers and containers, up 1.1 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first five weeks of 2013 is 68,426 carloads, up 6.9 percent from the same point last year, and 43,539 trailers and containers, down 3.6 percent from last year.
Combined North American rail volume for the first five weeks of 2013 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 1,780,547 carloads, down 4.3 percent compared with the same point last year, and 1,463,400 trailers and containers, up 5.1 percent compared with last year.
