Freight traffic in the month of April, at least so far, isn’t showing signs of improvement. For the week ending April 9, 2016, carloads and intermodal units were down 20% and nearly 8%, respectively, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on April 13.
The Association of American Railroads on April 12, 2016 presented Michael Hoey, a CSX Transportation civil engineer from Philadelphia, Pa., the 2016 John H. Chafee Environmental Excellence Award. U.S. Senator Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) was the 2016 John H. Chafee Congressional Environmental Award.
Carloads and intermodal units both took a hit in March 2016, dropping 14.2% and 7.7%, respectively, compared to the prior-year period, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) said on April 6, 2016, reporting weekly traffic as well as March traffic.
The Association of American Railroads, on behalf of its freight railroad members, has submitted comments to the Surface Transportation Board regarding STB’s proceeding, On-Time Performance under Section 213 of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (Docket No. EP 726).
For the third week in a row, freight traffic shows no signs of growth. For the week ending March 26, 2016, carloads and intermodal units took another big hit, dropping 18.5% and nearly 15%, respectively, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on March 30.
Freight traffic, at least at this point, isn’t showing signs of improvement. For the week ending March 19, 2016, carloads and intermodal units both took a big hit, dropping 17.2% and nearly 10.7%, respectively, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on March 23.
For the week ending March 12, 2016, North American freight rail traffic experienced a 12.8% drop in carloads and a 10.3% drop in intermodal, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on March 17.
Citing the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) acknowledgement of “little evidence or safety data” in its attempt to mandate two-person train crews, a proposed rule first announced by the FRA in April 2015, Association of American Railroads President and CEO Edward R. Hamberger said, “Safety is this industry’s number one concern, but there is simply no safety case to be made for a regulation that requires two-person crews, especially where Positive Train Control is fully operational.” The rule was published in the Federal Register on March 15, 2016, and public comments are due on May 16.
Intermodal experienced a modest gain of nearly 5% for the week ending March 5, 2016, offsetting an 8% drop in carload traffic compared with the same week in 2015, the Association of American Railroads reported on March 9.
Aided by a labor dispute at West Coast ports last year that impacted volume, intermodal traffic experienced a spike of nearly 13% in February 2016, compared to the prior-year period, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) said on March 2, 2016, reporting weekly traffic as well as February traffic. Carload traffic remained weak.