U.S. Freight Off For June 2008 Compared With June 2007
3 Jul 2008
Contact: Tom White
(202) 639-2556
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, July 3, 2008 — Freight traffic on U.S. railroads was off during June in comparison with June 2007, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today.
Railroad carload traffic fell 3.6 percent compared with June 2007, while intermodal traffic fell 4.0 percent compared with the same month last year.
Overall, U.S. railroads originated 1,295,161 carloads of freight in June 2008, down 48,950 carloads from June 2007. U.S. railroads also originated 923,031 intermodal units in June 2008, a decrease of 38,514 trailers and containers from June 2007.
“Rail volumes were already under pressure because of the continuing weakness in the economy, but the massive recent flooding in the Midwest made things much worse,” noted AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray. “Railroads are extremely resilient, though. Many of the affected areas have already been returned to service, and railroads expect to return to normal operations quickly,” Gray added.
Five of the 19 major commodity categories tracked by the AAR saw carload increases on U.S. railroads in June 2008 compared to June 2007, led by grain (up 4,206 carloads, or 5.0 percent, to 88,040 carloads) and chemicals (up 3,232 carloads, or 2.7 percent, to 124,891 carloads). Ethanol, a small but rapidly-growing rail traffic segment, is included in the “chemicals” category.
Commodities showing carload declines in June 2008 included coal (down 17,677 carloads, or 3.2 percent, to 542,324 carloads); motor vehicles and equipment (down 17,051 carloads, or 19.1 percent, to 72,450 carloads); and coke (down 6,213 carloads, or 28.8 percent, to 15,397 carloads).
In the second quarter of 2008, total U.S. rail carloadings were down 0.6 percent (27,006 carloads) to 4,278,770 carloads, while intermodal traffic, which consists of trailers and containers on flat cars and is not included in carload figures, was down 2.4 percent (71,414 units) to 2,941,922 trailers and containers.
For the first half of 2008, total U.S. rail carloads were up 19,750 carloads (0.2 percent) to 8,451,736 carloads, as year-over-year increases in coal (up 109,670 carloads, or 3.1 percent), grain (up 86,774 carloads, or 16.0 percent), and chemicals (up 24,409 carloads, or 3.1 percent), among others, more than offset declines in motor vehicles and equipment (down 78,781 carloads, or 14.6 percent); coke (down 46,739 carloads, or 32.3 percent); and crushed stone, sand, and gravel (down 35,778 carloads, or 6.7 percent), among others.
U.S. intermodal traffic was down 191,358 trailers and containers (3.2 percent) for the first six months of 2008 to 5,761,017 units.
Total volume for the first six months was estimated at 873.8 billion ton-miles, up 1.5 percent from the January-June period of 2007.
Canadian rail carload traffic (which includes the U.S. operations of Canadian railroads) was down 17,041 carloads (5.3 percent) in June 2008 to 302,101 carloads. In June, carload gains for crushed stone, stand, and gravel (up 1,465 carloads, or 15.4 percent) and metallic ores (up 1,366 carloads, or 2.5 percent), among others, were not enough to offset declines in carloads of motor vehicles and equipment (down 5,342 carloads, or 17.9 percent), lumber and wood products (down 4,632 carloads, or 29.0 percent), and chemicals (down 3,214 carloads, or 5.5 percent), among others.
Canadian intermodal traffic was up 5,937 units (3.2 percent) in June 2008 compared with June 2007 to 193,694 trailers and containers.
In the second quarter of 2008, Canadian carloadings were down 5.4 percent (56,883 carloads) to 988,447 carloads, while intermodal traffic was up 3.9 percent (23,840 units) to 632,771 trailers and containers. For the first half of 2008, Canadian rail carloadings were down 4.0 percent (81,377 carloads) to 1,939,446 carloads, while intermodal traffic was up 4.3 percent (50,576 carloads) to 1,226,695 units.
Carloads carried on Kansas City Southern dé Mexico, a major Mexican railroad, were down 368 carloads (0.8 percent) in June 2008 to 43,975 carloads, while intermodal units carried totaled 19,112 units, up 416 units (2.2 percent). For the first half of 2008, KCSM carloads carried were down 3.3 percent (9,362 carloads) to 273,656 carloads, while intermodal units carried were up 10.0 percent (11,241 units) to 123,747.
For the week ended June 28, the AAR reported the following totals for U.S. railroads: 328,564 carloads, down 2.2 percent (7,426 carloads) from the corresponding week in 2007, with loadings up 0.4 percent in the East and down 4.1 percent in the West; intermodal volume of 229,676 trailers and containers, down 4.5 percent (10,770 units) from last year; and total volume of an estimated 34.0 billion ton-miles, down 0.9 percent from the corresponding week last year.
For Canadian railroads during the week ended June 28, the AAR reported volume of 76,083 carloads, down 3.6 percent from last year; and 48,021 trailers and containers, up 5.3 percent from the corresponding week of 2007.
Combined cumulative rail volume for the first half of 2008 on 12 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 10,391,182 carloads, down 0.6 percent (61,627 carloads) from last year, and 6,987,712 trailers and containers, down 2.0 percent (140,782 units) from 2007.
This press release is available weekly via the Internet at www.aar.org.
Weekly Traffic of Major U.S. Railroads For The Week Ending June 28, 2009 . (PDF)