Mark Szakonyi, Associate Editor | Jun 14, 2012 3:18PM EDT
Intermodal shipments on major U.S. railroads in the week ending June 9 rose 3.8 percent year-over-year and jumped 15.2 percent from the prior week, according to the Association of American Railroads.
Carload volume in the same week fell 1.7 percent year-over-year but rose 7.6 percent versus the prior week. Grain, coke, iron and steel scrap volumes saw double-digit decreases on a year-over-year basis. Petroleum products, metallic ores, lumber and wood products, and motor vehicles and equipment volumes increased on a double-digit basis in the same period.
For the first 23 weeks of 2012, intermodal traffic rose 3 percent from the same period a year ago; carload traffic declined 3.1 percent in the same period.
Canadian intermodal volume in the week ending June 9 jumped 12 percent year-over-year, and carload volume rose 5.5 percent in the same period. So far this year, Canadian intermodal volume is up 6.7 percent year-over-year, and carload traffic is up 3.6 percent.
Mexican intermodal volume last week rose 12.6 percent year-over-year, and carload traffic was up 2.3 percent in the same period. In the first 23 weeks of 2012, intermodal traffic rose 20.1 percent from the same period in 2011, but carload volume fell 2.9 percent in the same period.
Contact Mark Szakonyi at mszakonyi@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @szakonyi_joc.