Rail Freight

Freight transportation and logistics services provider Hub Group Inc. said today that earlier this month its Comtrak Logistics Inc. subsidiary, which offers national drayage and truckload services, acquired Domestic Transport Inc., a Pacific, Washington-based provider of intermodal drayage services.

Carload volume—at 273,584—was up 1.1 percent annually, but behind the week ending May 28 at 288,049 and the weeks ending May 21 and May 14 at 295,148 and 294,271l, respectively. It was also behind the week ending April 2, which hit 305,905 carloads, marking the highest weekly carload tally since the end of 2008.

Railroad carload traffic in May was flat year-over-year with a 0.5 percent annual gain, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Intermodal saw steady gains compared to last year.

NS officials said the $97.5 million facility is part of the $2.5 billion Crescent Corridor initiative, which aims to establish an efficient, high-capacity intermodal freight rail route between the Gulf Coast and the North East. This facility, which is located on a 316-acre site in McCalla, Alabama, is expected to open in late 2012.

Carload volume—at 288,049—was up 0.7 percent compared to the same timeframe last year and is behind the week ending May 21 at 295,148 and the week ending May 14 at 294,271. It was also behind the week ending April 2, which hit 305,905 carloads, marking the highest weekly carload tally since the end of 2008.

The United States Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today that trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was up 15.6 percent in March 2011 compared to March 2010 increasing to $80.8 billion.

Carload volume—at 295,148—was up 2.3 percent compared to the same timeframe last year and slightly ahead of the week ending May 14 at 294,271. It was also behind the week ending April 2, which hit 305,905 carloads, marking the highest weekly carload tally since the end of 2008.

Earlier today, my inbox pointed me to an e-mail from the American Trucking Associations (ATA), which highlighted the fact that the United States freight economy—especially trucking—is poised for liftoff following the depths of the Great Recession. This information is gleaned from the ATA’s U.S. Freight Transportation Forecast to 2022, which was put together by the ATA, IHS Global Insight, and Martin Labbe Associates.

Carload volume—at 294,271—was up 1.6 percent annually and ahead of the week ending May 7 at 281,860.

The National Gateway is a roughly $850 million public-private partnership (PPP) infrastructure initiative designed to provide a highly efficient freight transportation link between the Mid-Atlantic ports and the Midwest. It was first unveiled by CSX in May 2008.

Earlier this week, the United States Supreme Court upheld a ruling in which it ordered $345 million in reparations and reductions from Class I railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) to two shippers, Western Fuels Association Inc. and Basin Electric Cooperative Inc.

Carload volume was down 0.1 percent in the East and down 4.2 percent out West. Carloads on a year-to-date basis are at 5,233,086 for a 3.4 percent annual gain.

As has been the case in recent weeks, rail carload and intermodal volumes were somewhat mixed in April, according to data from the Association of American Railroads (AAR). April rail carloads—at 1,117277—were down 0.2 percent compared to April 2010 and up 2.5 percent compared to March 2011 on a seasonally-adjusted basis

Carload volume—at 295,347—was flat on an annual basis, and intermodal volumes for the week ending April 30 at 229,677 trailers and containers were up 7.8 percent year-over-year.

When a Wall Street Journal article reported that rail shipping woes were impacting auto deliveries, industry experts told LM the situation is not as dire as it seems.