WASHINGTON — U.S. freight railroads completed a record-breaking year by originating 1,588,950 carloads of freight in December 2004 and an additional 1,029,547 intermodal trailers and containers, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported.
December 2004 carloads were up 2.6 percent — 40,321 carloads — over December 2003, while intermodal loadings were up 16.1 percent — 143,106 units — for the month. For the fourth quarter of 2004, U.S. rail carloadings were up 2.3 percent — 99,491 carloads — and intermodal originations were up 13.1 percent — 330,344 units.
Full-year 2004 U.S. carloads totaled 17,423,309, up 2.9 percent — 483,912 carloads — over 2003. Full-year 2004 intermodal loadings were 10,993,662 units, up a remarkable 10.4 percent — 1,038,057 trailers and containers — over 2003.
“2004 was an excellent year for U.S. freight railroad traffic, with the vast majority of all major commodity categories experiencing significant gains,” AAR Vice President Craig F. Rockey said.
“The top 28 highest volume intermodal weeks in history occurred in 2004, leading to full-year intermodal volume that broke the previous record (set in 2003) by more than 10 percent. Total U.S. rail traffic volume — an estimated 1.61 trillion ton-miles for reporting carriers — was also higher in 2004 than ever before. And with the consensus forecast calling for U.S. GDP growth in the 3 percent to 4 percent range for 2005, it appears that railroads are well positioned to continue their traffic growth as they help our economy move forward.”
Click below to view to view that railroad’s 2004 review:
