Transportation

Rail Carloadings at Highest Level since December 2008, But Down on an Annual Basis

According to a report published by the Association of American Railroads, rail traffic improved on a weekly basis in August, but remained down on an annual basis. Rail carloadings were at their highest level since the week ending December 13, 2008. For the week ending August 29, 2009, U.S. railroads reported originating 285,580 cars, down 16.2% compared with the same week in 2008. Regionally, carloadings were down 16% in the West and 16.6% in the East.

Intermodal traffic of 202,553 trailers or containers on U.S. railroads was down 15.6% from the same week last year. Container volume fell 9.4% and trailer volume dropped 38.7%.

Chemical shipment declined by 13.4% compared to the same period in the previous year. Rail car loadings represent about 21% of chemical volumes by tonnage. The figures provide an early glimpse of broader trends for the chemical industry as well as manufacturing.

All 19 carload freight commodity groups were down from last year, with declines ranging from 8.7% for farm products (not including grain) to 42.1% for metals and metal products. For the first 34 weeks of 2009, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 9,001,221 carloads, down 18.7% from 2008. In the second quarter of the year, total U.S. rail car loadings were down 22.4% (958,324 carloads). Carloads of coal in the quarter were down 12.5% (228,334 carloads) to 1,599,307 carloads. In percentage terms, other commodities fared much worse in the second quarter, including motor vehicles and equipment (down 49.4%, or 112,609 carloads), metals and metal products (down 62.4%, or 111,653 carloads), and grain (down 25.7%, or 77,773 carloads).