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April ended on a bit of a flat note for U.S. railroads. During the week ending April 30, they originated 295,347 carloads, essentially flat compared with volume from the same week last year, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR). But intermodal volume climbed 7.8 percent to 229,677 units.
 
Nine of 20 carload commodity groups registered gains. Coal volume fell 1 percent, but railroads remain optimistic about export opportunities, said Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. analysts in their weekly “Rail Flash” report.

“Anecdotally, contacts have indicated Australian coal exporting has begun to recover from flooding, though we expect pent-up demand remains supporting U.S. export growth,” they said. “Additionally, railroads have indicated that more normalized utility inventory levels support opportunity for year-over-year growth as economic and electrical demand recovery continues.”
 
Meanwhile, Canadian railroads reported weekly carloads totaling 79,712 units, up 5.4 percent, and intermodal volume totaling 48,883 units, up 3.1 percent compared with volumes from the same week last year. During the week ending April 30, Mexican railroads handled 14,751 carloads, up 15.1 percent, and 7,705 containers and trailers, up 38 percent.
 
Through 2011’s first 17 weeks, 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads originated 6.4 million carloads, up 3.3 percent, and 4.7 million containers and trailers, up 7.9 percent year over year.

For more AAR traffic data for the week ending April 30 and through 17 weeks, follow this link.