The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported last week that US freight carload traffic in February totaled 1,089,211 carloads, down 1.1 percent or 11,726 carloads from February 2014. US railroads originated 929,395 containers and trailers in February 2015, down 6.5 percent or 64,384 units from the same month last year. For February 2015, combined US.carload and intermodal originations were 2,018,606, down 76,110 units or 3.6 percent from February 2014.
In February 2015, 11 of the 20 carload commodity categories tracked by the AAR each month saw carload gains compared with February 2014. This included grain, up 8,651 carloads, or 10.9 percent over last year; crushed stone, gravel, and sand, up 4,640 carloads, or 6.5 percent; metallic ores, up 3,515 carloads, or 21.9 percent; and chemicals, up 2,436 carloads, or 2 percent. Commodities that saw declines in February 2015 from February 2014 included coal, down 21,075 carloads, or 4.9 percent; iron and steel scrap, down 3,943 carloads, or 23.1 percent; and primary metal products, down 2,926 carloads, or 7.3 percent.
Excluding coal, carloads were up 9,349 carloads or 1.4 percent in February 2015 over February 2014 and when coal and grain were excluded, U.S. carloads were up 698 carloads or 0.1 percent in February 2015.
"The problems at West Coast ports clearly had an impact on rail traffic in February. Bad weather in the East and Midwest didn't help," said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray. "It's not possible to quantify the impact of these factors precisely. However, economic fundamentals remain mostly positive, so railroads are expecting significant traffic improvements in March."