The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported Thursday mixed 2012 rail traffic compared with 2011. Combined North American rail volume for 2012 on 13 reporting US, Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 19,440,940 carloads, down 2 percent compared to last year, and 15,459,909 trailers and containers, up 4.2 percent compared with last year.
US rail intermodal volume totaled 12.3 million containers and trailers in 2012, up 3.2 percent or 374,918 units, over 2011. Carloads totaled 14.7 million in 2012, down 3.1 percent or 476,322 carloads, from 2011. Intermodal volume in 2012 was the second highest on record, down 0.1 percent or 14,885 containers and trailers, from the record high totals of 2006.
In 2012, 12 of the 20 carload commodity categories tracked by AAR saw increases on US railroads compared with 2011. The biggest gains were petroleum products, up 170,994 carloads or 46.3 percent and motor vehicles and parts, up 114,221 carloads or 16.5 percent.
The commodities with the biggest carload declines in 2012 from 2011 were coal, down 726,257 carloads or 10.8 percent and metallic ores, down 22,421 carloads or 5.7 percent. Excluding coal and grain, US rail carloads in 2012 were up 356,224 carloads or 4.9 percent over 2011, their third straight year-over-year annual increase.
For 2012, Canadian railroads reported cumulative volume of 4,009,097 carloads, up 2 percent from the same point last year, and 2,673,314 trailers and containers, up 6.6 percent from last year. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for 2012 was 749,024 carloads, up 1.3 percent compared to last year, and 519,259 trailers and containers, up 19 percent.