advertisement

---

Last month, U.S. railroads handled 1.05 million carloads, down 0.7 percent compared with January 2009’s traffic volume, according to the Association of American Railroads’ (AAR) latest “Rail Time Indicators” report.

However, 13 of 19 commodity categories tracked by the AAR registered year-over-year gains, with non-metallic mineral shipments posting the largest increase at 65.9 percent. Motor vehicle and parts volume came in a close second with a 65.7 percent gain.

In January, U.S. rail intermodal traffic totaled 803,275 units, up 2.5 percent compared with January 2009 volume.

For the first time, the AAR’s report offers seasonally-adjusted U.S. rail traffic, using January 1988 to December 2009 as the seasonal basis. In January, seasonally-adjusted carloads rose 2.6 percent from December 2009’s level — the highest gain in 11 months, according to the AAR.

"Seasonal adjustment is designed to improve month-to-month comparisons and eliminate seasonal components that can mask underlying trends," said AAR Senior Vice President John Gray in a prepared statement.