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U.S. railroads capped off July by setting 2010 highs for weekly carload and intermodal volumes. During the week ending July 31, they originated 300,292 carloads, up 9.4 percent, and 232,895 containers and trailers, up 20.2 percent compared with traffic figures from the same week last year, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Eighteen of the 19 carload commodity groups registered gains, while container volume jumped 21.9 percent and trailer volume rose 11.7 percent.

At July’s end, intermodal volumes were 1 percent above mid-June levels, which was in line with a traditional seasonal increase, said Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. analysts in their weekly “Rail Flash” report.

“Improvement was realized within both international and domestic lanes,” they wrote. “We expect both domestic and international growth to continue given ongoing domestic truckload conversion and economic growth.”
 
Meanwhile, Canadian railroads reported weekly volume of 73,858 carloads, up 17.3 percent, and 50,967 containers and trailers, up 21.6 percent year over year. For the week ending July 31, Mexican railroads originated 14,282 carloads, up 23.4 percent, and 6,848 intermodal loads, up 23.1 percent.
 
Through 2010’s first 30 weeks, 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads originated 11 million carloads, up 10.2 percent, and 7.9 million containers and trailers, up 14.1 percent compared with volumes from the same 2009 period.

For more AAR traffic data for the week ending July 31 and through 30 weeks, follow this link.