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In May, RailAmerica Inc.’s 40 U.S. and Canadian railroads reported 70,293 carloads, up 9.1 percent compared with May 2009 volume. The regionals and short lines registered gains in eight of 12 commodity groups.

Higher volumes of metallic ores and metals, chemicals, and waste and scrap materials helped drive up carloads. Metallic ore and metal carloads rose in the Central, Midwest, Northeast and Southeast regions; chemical volumes were up in the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast and West regions; and waste and scrap material carloads were strong in the Northeast and Southeast regions.

Coal traffic declined on a year-over-year basis primarily because of reduced volumes in the central U.S.