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The Association of American Railroads’ (AAR) latest traffic data doesn’t provide an accurate gauge on U.S. railroads’ gains or losses vs. last year because it’s hardly an apples-to-apples comparison: traffic from the latest week includes the Labor Day holiday while the comparative week from 2008 doesn’t.

Nonetheless, during the week ending Sept. 12, the railroads originated 263,349 carloads, down 19.8 percent, and 175,813 intermodal loads, down 25.8 percent year over year.

Canadian railroads reported 63,753 carloads, down 22.1 percent, and 38,375 containers and trailers, down 27.5 percent. Mexican railroads’ carloads fell only 1 percent to 11,612 units and their intermodal volume increased 8.4 percent to 7,130 units.

For more AAR data on North American railroads' traffic for the week ending Sept. 12 and through 2009's first 36 weeks, follow this link.