Rail Traffic Increases for 15th Straight Week

Highlights from today's report on Weekly Traffic of Major U.S. Railroads for the week ending June 12 (Week 23):

1. Carloads originated last week of 288,973 were 10.5% above the comparable week in 2009, and cumulative year-to-date carload volume is 7.2% above last year.

3. Intermodal Units Originated (trailers and containers) at 223,075 were 17.7% above the same week last year, and cumulative year-to-date volume is 11.3% above 2009. 

4. Estimated ton-miles were up in Week 23 by 12.5% vs. 2009, and by 8.2% so far this year compared to last year. 

5. This marks the 15th consecutive week (starting in late February) that rail traffic (both carloads and intermodal units) is above the comparable week last year. 

6. For the 19 commodity groups tracked by the American Association of Railroads, 17 are up year-to-date compared to last year, and only two have decreased (paper and pulp, and coal). The strongest gains have been in shipments of metallic ores (85%), metals (65%) and motor vehicles (35%). 

7. Canadian and Mexican rail volumes have also registered strong gains, both last week and year-to-date.      

8. Combined North American rail volume for the first 23 weeks of 2010 on U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 8,463,154 carloads, up 10.2 percent from last year, and 5,940,938 trailers and containers, up 12 percent from last year.