For the week ending Dec. 12, 2015, total U.S. rail traffic was 544, 975 carloads and intermodal units, down 8% compared with the same week in 2014, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on Dec. 16. U.S. carloads fell 13%; Canadian carloads dropped 10%; North American (U.S., Canada, Mexico combined) intermodal units dropped 7.6%.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Dec. 10, 2015 passed S. 808, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) Reauthorization Act of 2015, which among other provisions, will increase the number of STB members from three to five, improving STB’s structure and decision-making processes by allowing, with proper disclosure, board members to speak with one another about cases on which the STB is ruling.
For the week ending Dec. 5, 2015, total U.S. rail traffic was 542,050 carloads and intermodal units, down 6.6% compared with the same week in 2014, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on Dec. 9. U.S. carloads fell nearly 13%; Canadian carloads dropped nearly 10%; intermodal remains flat.
For the month of November 2015, total U.S. carload traffic was 1,041,605, down 10.4% or 120,259 carloads from November 2014, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on Dec. 2, 2015.
Congressional conferees on Dec. 1, 2015 reached an agreement on the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, a five-year surface transportation reauthorization bill and the first long-term bill of its kind in a decade. It comes after years of predeccesor-bill extensions and partisan bickering. Of interest to freight railroads are key provisions on safety enhancements for tank cars moving flammable liquids in the U.S. and electronically-controlled pneumatic (ECP) train braking.
For the week ending Nov. 21, 2015, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 532,532 carloads and intermodal units, down 5.7% compared with the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads reported on Nov. 25. U.S. carloads fell nearly 10%; Canadian carloads dropped nearly 13%. Intermodal for some sectors saw modest gains.
For the week ending Nov. 14, 2015, total U.S. rail traffic was 543,681 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.7% compared with the same week in 2014, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on Nov. 18, 2015.
For the week ending Nov. 7, 2015, total U.S. rail traffic was 539,165 carloads and intermodal units, down 5.2% compared with the same week in 2014, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on Nov. 11, 2015.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) joins the nation Nov. 11, 2015 in saluting the contributions of the country’s military veterans.
Reaffirmation by the U.S. rail and hazardous materials regulators of new rules for the movement of flammable liquids means operational migraines for railroaders, without actually addressing the underlying cause of crude oil exploding in transit.