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Last month, RailAmerica Inc.’s 42 U.S. and Canadian railroads moved 107,025 carloads, a 2.1 percent decrease compared with August 2005’s carloadings and the seventh-straight month the short-line holding company has reported a traffic decline.

Excluding carloads associated with railroads or portions of railroads sold or acquired after Jan. 1, 2005, “same railroad” carloads dropped 0.5 percent in August.

RailAmerica officials attribute the decline to fewer shipments of coal, intermodal loads, lumber and forest products, and paper products. A softening in the housing market reduced lumber and forest product moves while a work stoppage at a shipper’s Nova Scotia facility impacted paper product shipments. However, bridge traffic, and metals and petroleum carloads increased in August.

During 2006’s first eight months, subsidiary railroads moved 846,497 carloads, a 2.5 percent decrease compared with similar 2005 data. Same railroad carloads fell 1.4 percent to 818,898 units.