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Last week, U.S. and Canadian railroads fared well on the traffic front, increasing carloads 5 percent and 14.3 percent, respectively, compared with the same 2002 period, according to Association of American Railroads data.

Non-metallic mineral and product, and agricultural product moves played major roles, rising 13.7 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively, for U.S. roads, and 33 percent and 31.5 percent, respectively, for Canadian railroads.

The seven-day traffic uptick helped both roads attain year-to-date gains: Through the year's first 49 weeks, U.S. and Canadian railroads' carloads were up 0.1 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively, compared with the same 2002 period.

Intermodal traffic is growing, as well, but by bigger leaps and bounds. During the week ended Dec. 6, U.S. roads increased intermodal moves 7 percent compared with a similar 2002 week. And through the year's first 49 weeks, U.S. and Canadian roads' intermodal traffic rose 6.7 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively, compared with the same 2002 period.

For Mexico's TFM S.A. de C.V., last week wasn't nearly as kind. The railroad's originated carloads dropped 23.8 percent and intermodal traffic dipped 15.3 percent compared with the same 2002 week. During 2003's first 49 weeks, TFM's originated carloads were down 3 percent but intermodal traffic was up 11.7 percent compared with the same 2002 period.