The fine folks at the Association of American Railroads are out with their latest edition of Rail Time Indicators. Total traffic (carloads plus intermodal) in July was about 11% higher than the dismal levels of a year ago, but remains about 10% below earlier years:
The rebound has been weaker in carloads (think bulk materials like coal, grains, minerals, and chemicals plus autos); they are up about 4% over 2009:
And stronger in intermodal (think trailers and containers), which are up about 17%:
I always look forward to Donald Marron’s wide-ranging analyses. I hope the next president in 2012 will invite Mr. Marron into his cabinet!