According to data from the Association of American Railroads (AAR), rail traffic in September was up 1.1 percent year-on-year to 1.95 million carloads, and 949,606 trailers and containers passed through US railroads in September, a 2.3 percent increase from the same month last year.
Coal carloads were up 1.2 percent in September; primary metals products jumped 14.4 percent and motor vehicles and parts rose 8.2 percent.
Historical data from the AAR indicates that through Q3 2011, US carloads are at 87 percent of the levels they were at the same period in 2006, the highest year on record for US rail traffic. Intermodal volume in the first nine months of 2011 is 96 percent of what it was in the peak year of 2006.