advertisement

---

In April, U.S. carloads totaled 1.18 million units, down 0.2 percent compared with April 2010 volume — the first monthly decline since February 2010, according to the Association of American Railroads’ (AAR) “Rail Time Indicators” report. Intermodal traffic rose 9 percent to 914,518 units.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, April carloads declined 2.5 percent and intermodal traffic rose 1.2 percent compared with March levels.

Only nine of 20 commodity categories registered year-over-year gains in April, led by metallic ores, up 19.4 percent; grain, up 13.6 percent; and motor vehicle and parts, up 9.6 percent. Chemical carloads increased for the 18th-straight month. However, primary forest product carloads plummeted 26.4 percent, waste and nonferrous scrap carloads tumbled 14.2 percent, crushed stone/sand/gravel carloads fell 5.6 percent and coal carloads dipped 2.9 percent — the first monthly decline since July 2010.

“April 2010 was a relatively strong month and therefore a difficult comparison,” said AAR Senior Vice President John Gray in a prepared statement.
 
However, U.S. rail employment remained strong in March, when railroads added 1,340 workers — the largest monthly gain since September 2010 — boosting the U.S. rail workforce to 155,842, according to the AAR. As of May 1, 276,228 freight cars, or 18.2 percent of the U.S. fleet, remained in storage, a decrease of 7,421 cars from April 1’s count.