U.S. rail volume hits record level again
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) said that total freight volume on U.S. railroads for the first 51 weeks of 2006 reached more than 1.71 trillion ton-miles, breaking the 52-week record of 1.69 trillion set during 2005. It is the ninth consecutive year for record volume, AAR said.
For the first 51 weeks of 2006, U.S. carload freight totaled 17.11 million units, up 1.4 percent from last year, while intermodal volume totaled 12.1 million trailers or containers, up 5.2 percent.
On the Canadian railroads, carload traffic totaled 3.79 million cars, down 1.8 percent from last year, while intermodal volume of 2.33 million trailers or containers was up 6.7 percent.