advertisement

---

The bad news: During the week ending Oct. 17, U.S. railroads continued to report significant traffic declines. Their carloads dropped 15.4 percent to 275,545 units and intermodal volume tumbled 12.6 percent to 206,139 units compared with figures from the same week last year, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

The good news: The same week in 2008 included the first significant signs of an economic downturn, so traffic going forward might show improvement based on year-over-year comparisons, the AAR said

During the week ending Oct. 17, Canadian railroads originated 69,146 carloads, down 10.4 percent, and 41,835 intermodal loads, down 11.3 percent. Mexican railroads reported a 9.5 percent drop in carloads to 12,293 units and 11.3 percent dip in intermodal volume to 7,027 units.

For more AAR data on North American railroads' traffic for the week ending Oct. 17 and through 2009’s first 41 weeks, follow this link.