Railroad shipping: AAR reports mixed volumes gains for week ending October 15

Rail traffic was mixed for the week ending October 15, according to data released by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Carload volume—at 303,363—was flat on an annual basis and ahead of the week ending October 8, which came in at 302,500 and behind the week ending October 1, which hit 312,170 carloads, and is the highest weekly carload mark for 2011, according to AAR data. The prior two weeks hit 305,133 and 305,905, respectively.

Eastern carloads were up 0.4 percent, and out west carloads were down 0.2 percent. On a year-to-date basis, carloads—at 11,935,013—are up 1.7 percent.

Intermodal volumes at 244,389 trailers and containers were up 3 percent year over year and ahead of the week ending October 8 at 241,999. It was behind the week ending October 1, which hit 250,864 for the highest weekly total for 2011 and highest weekly tally since week 39 of 2007.

Intermodal volumes of 9,367,614 trailers and containers for the year-to-date are 1.7 percent ahead of last year’s pace. Shippers continue to turn to intermodal as an alternative to trucking movements, as they can see significant fuel savings in exchange for a longer transit time.

Of the 20 commodity groups tracked by the AAR, 11 were up annually. Metallic ores were up 28.1 percent, and grain was down 14.8 percent.

Estimated ton miles for the week at 36.2 billion were flat and for the year-to-date, they were up 2.7 percent at 1,351.6 billion.