WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reports rail intermodal volume on U.S. railroads for the week ending Aug. 21, 2010 set a new 2010 record for the second consecutive week.

AAR says 236,404 total trailers and containers were moved that week — up 22.4 percent from the same week in 2009, and up 2.6 percent compared with 2008.

Weekly container volume, a large subset of intermodal, was the highest on record, also for the second consecutive week, up 24.2 percent compared with the same week in 2009, and up 11.5 percent with the same week in 2008.

Trailer volume rose 12.4 percent last week compared with the same week in 2009, but fell 30.5 percent compared with 2008.
In order to offer a complete picture of the progress in rail traffic, AAR reports 2010 weekly rail traffic with comparison weeks in both 2009 and 2008.

Carload traffic continued moderate weekly gains, with U.S. railroads originating 296,634 carloads for the week, up 6.2 percent compared with the same week in 2009, but down 11 percent from the same week in 2008.

Fourteen of the 19 carload commodity groups increased from the comparable week in 2009. Those posting the most significant increases were metallic ores and metals and metal products. All 19 carload commodity groups were down in comparison to 2008, though.

Canadian railroads reported volume of 71,033 cars for the week, up 10.5 percent from last year, and 50,999 trailers or containers, up 21.7 percent from 2009. For the first 33 weeks of 2010.

Canadian railroads reported cumulative volume of 2,382,683 carloads, up 20.8 percent from last year, and 1,531,922 trailers or containers, up 15.4 percent from last year.