Home » Most Recent Stories

RAIL TRAFFIC CONTINUES TO GAIN MOMENTUM

29 April 2010 by Cullen Roche 1 Comment

The AAR is reporting another strong week of year over year gains in the rail industry.  U.S. railroads originated 298,218 carloads during the week ended April 24.  This was a 14.6% gain over the same week last year, but still down 10.8% from 2008.  Intermodal traffic jumped 15.1% year over year and down 5.4% versus 2008.

The breadth of the traffic remains quite strong as all 19 commodity groups report year over year gains:

“All 19 carload commodity groups were up from last year, led by gains in commodities associated with the steel industry: metallic ores, up 163 percent; metals, up 80.2 percent; waste and scrap, up 59.7 percent; and coke, up 12 percent. Other notable increases included 25.3 percent for motor vehicles and equipment; 45.2 percent for primary forest products; 22.8 percent for lumber and wood products; and 13.1 percent for chemicals. Grain was up 20.1 percent, and coal rose 6 percent.”

Source: AAR

Cullen Roche

Cullen Roche

Bio - Coming Soon.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:
TwitterYouTube

Disclosures - Unless otherwise noted, authors have no positions in any securities mentioned and readers should never consider this to be investment advice. Always consult your financial advisor before acting on any ideas. Comments Guideline - Readers who denigrate authors or other readers will be banned without warning. This site does not tolerate any sort of reader abuse. The goal of this site is to create an environment that is conducive to learning and better understanding of the monetary system and the investment world. We expect readers to behave maturely and responsibly. We welcome and encourage intense and intelligent discourse, but the site adheres to a strict 1 strike policy. While it is your right to speak freely, it is not your right to behave childishly. Above all else, please enjoy the site. It is intended to be used as an educational tool and we hope the intelligent and mature debate will further that purpose. We hope readers will make an effort to respect that goal. Comments with excessive linking or foul language will be moderated before posting.
Comments
  • Our Man in NYC

    For what it’s worth, the gain seems to represent more how terrible the comparable period was compared to genuine improvement.

    e.g. Total YTD Rail traffic is still down 12% vs 08 (as opposed to +6.6% vs 09)…and Autos YTD is down 35%+ vs 08 (as opposed to +31% vs 09)…

    04/30/2010 at 1:06 PM