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Railroads have made strides with improving service performance compared with last year, according to the results of a second-quarter shipper survey conducted by Bear Stearns and released by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Rail service levels improved on a sequential and year-over-year basis as Class Is’ average velocity increased and terminal dwell times decreased, Bear Stearns said.

Seventy-two percent of the respondents expected service levels to remain stable or continue to improve — good news as railroads head into the fall peak.

“Unlike in past years when West Coast port congestion meaningfully slowed rail service during the peak demand season, we believe the railroads and the entire supply chain have done a better job of planning for the peak season,” Bear Stearns said.

Railroads are performing better even though total freight volume is up 2.7 percent and intermodal loads have increased 6.4 percent compared with 2005 traffic data, said AAR President and Chief Executive Officer Ed Hamberger in a prepared statement.

“These improvements are especially impressive considering the fact that railroads are moving more freight than ever before in their history,” he said. “Railroads have spent billions of dollars over the past few years — including a record $8.3 billion in capital improvements this year alone — in order to increase capacity and improve service, [and] have changed operating practices and entered into joint agreements that improve the flow of traffic across the rail network.”