The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported Thursday increased total
US rail traffic for January 2014, with intermodal and carload volume increasing overall compared with January 2013. Intermodal traffic in January 2014 totaled 1,183,285 containers and trailers, up 1.3 percent (14,682 units) compared with January 2013. The weekly average of 236,657 intermodal units in January is the highest weekly average for any January on record.
US carload traffic totaled 1,345,184 carloads in January 2014, up 0.4 percent (5,183 carloads) over January 2013.
Seven of the 20 commodity categories tracked by the AAR each month saw year-over-year carload increases in January over the same month last year. Commodities with the biggest carload increases last month included grain, up 13.2 percent or 12,141 carloads, and petroleum and petroleum products, up 10.4 percent or 6,777 carloads. Crude oil accounts for approximately half of this commodity category.
Commodity categories with carload declines last month included metallic ores, down 23.5 percent or 7,389 carloads from January 2013, and motor vehicles and parts, down 6.1 percent or 4,158 carloads.
Coal carloads were down 0.5 percent, or 2,901 carloads, in January 2014 from January 2013. Excluding coal, carloads were up 1 percent (8,084 carloads) in January 2014.
“Railroads are very good at operating their 140,000 mile long, outdoor ‘factory floor’ in all kinds of difficult weather,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray. “That said, in many parts of the country, January took the term difficult weather to new lows, as in low temperatures, for recent years. We can’t quantify it precisely, but the extreme cold probably held down rail traffic to some extent – for example, by making it more difficult for rail customers to produce their products and to load what they did produce into rail cars.”