Intermodal rail freight traffic in the US continued to post weekly increases in November, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).
During the week ending 20 November, intermodal traffic totalled 236,000 trailers and containers, up 10.6% on the same week last year. Compared with 2009, container volumes increased by 11.7% and trailer volumes were up 5.2%.
Overall, the US railroads carried 297,990 carloads, up 3.9% on the same week in 2009.
In Canada, November’s rail freight traffic reached 48,521 trailers or containers, up 12.8% on 2009, while in Mexico, traffic totalled 6,547 trailers or containers, up 1.8% on the same week last year.
For the first 46 weeks of 2010, US railroads reported carrying a total of 13.2 million carloads, up 7.2% on the same period last year, and 10 million trailers or containers, up 14.4%.
Canadian, and Mexican railroads carried 17.2 million carloads, up 9.4% on last year, and 12.5 million trailers and containers, up almost 15%.