Railroad traffic for the week ending January 22 was up again on an annual basis, according to data released by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Legislation calling to increase competition in the railroad industry was recently introduced by Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX).

When FedEx announced it was redesigning its network structure for its less-than-truckload (LTL) network, FedEx Freight, last September, which officially went live today, there was one small detail regarding this news that flew somewhat under the radar. That detail was that the company said it planned to be more active on the intermodal side.

Carload volume at 282,837 was up 1.5 percent compared to the corresponding week last year. This is nearly identical with the week ending January 15, which hit 282,987 carloads.

Freight transportation services provider Hub Group Inc. recently announced that it has opened new terminals for its national drayage and truckload services subsidiary Comtrak in Indianapolis and Milwaukee.

Following through on excellent momentum through the first three quarters of 2010, it was hardly surprising that CSX announced record fourth quarter and full-year 2010 earnings this week.

Listen to Group Editorial Director Michael Levans, Executive Editor Patrick Burnson, and a panel of leading energy and transportation analysts as they give shippers an updated look at the key drivers behind the increasing transportation rates U.S. logistics professionals will face over the course of 2011.

Pricing across the transportation modes

In the latest example of how strong the freight railroad business is, Class I carrier Union Pacific announced today that fourth quarter and full-year earnings were up 44 percent at $1.56 per share and 48 percent at $5.53 per share, respectively, year-over-year.

In 2010, carload and intermodal volume rebounded from a trying 2009, but volumes are still below pre-recession levels, according to data from the Association of American Railroads (AAR).