Intermodal Spikes, but Rail Carloads Slump

New intermodal loadings spiked at major U.S. railroads last week to their peak level so far this year, but carloads of bulk materials and heavy machinery or equipment slumped.

The Association of American Railroads said originations of intermodal containers and trailers, from the U.S. operations of Class I carriers and a few regional lines that report their totals, reached 208,941 units in the week ending Oct. 10.

That is up from 206,293 boxes that the big railroads hauled a week earlier, which at that point had been the most they carried in any single week of 2009.

Although this is the normal time for a seasonal peak in box shipments as retailers stock up consumer goods ahead of yearend holiday sales, rail executives have said this year’s intermodal push is so weak it does not represent a peak in terms of straining the rail system.

But even with box loads down 11 percent from the same week last year, they are now running at least 10,000 stronger each week than during August, in line with a mild recovery from the recession’s lowest traffic levels.

Carloads, though, continue to suggest that recovery has flattened in a wide range of cargoes linked to industrial activity. Train volumes are now at least two weeks past the time when Southeast U.S. floods hampered loadings and deliveries, but railcar pickups of bulk commodities and machinery fell to 273,429 units in the Oct. 10 week from 277,734 units in the week ending Oct. 3.

None of the categories appear to be falling sharply, but nearly all are down from their highs of summer or even from September. That includes metals-related shipments that had continued strong for many weeks, after a government stimulus program for automobile purchases stimulated new auto building and metals traffic on railroads.

Train pickups of metallic ores, scrap materials, metal products and finished vehicles or other types of equipment all declined. Railroads got a minor lift last week from the week before in loadings of coal, grain and mill products, but all remain off their recent high.

Coal is the largest rail commodity, but it was down nearly 16 percent from the same week last year -- a drop of 24,000 carloads.

Contact John D. Boyd at jboyd@joc.com.