U.S. freight traffic

U.S. carload freight traffic fell 0.3% for the week ending July 16, compared with the same week a year ago, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday. But U.S. intermodal volume rose 1.2% during the same period compared with last year.

AAR said 14 of the 20 carload commodity groups it measures posted increases from the comparable week in 2010, including iron and steel scrap, up 34.8%, metals and products, up 18.7%, and petroleum products, up 18.3%. Groups showing a decrease in weekly traffic included waste and nonferrous scrap, down 17.3%, coal, down 6.7%, and primary forest products, down 5.8%.

Canadian freight carload traffic advanced 5.4% for the week ending July 16 compared with a year ago, while Canadian intermodal also gained, up 2.9k%. Mexican freight carload traffic rose 9.4% compared with the same week last year, while intermodal soared 73.5%.

Combined North American freight carload volume for the first 28 weeks of 2011 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads rose 2.5% compared with the same point last year, while intermodal gained 6.7%.