AAR Reports 8.2% Decline in November Freight Rail Carloadings
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According to AAR, The Association of American Railroads (AAR), November freight rail carloadings were down 8.2% compared with the same month last year and down 17.4 percent compared with November of 2007. However, if Thanksgiving week were excluded, November would have been the highest volume month of the year for U.S. railroads.
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While rail carloads are still down overall, December's Rail Time Indicators report illustrates that the recovery in U.S. manufacturing seems to be continuing. The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), which measures how U.S. manufacturing is faring, was at 53.6 in November. A PMI over 50 is thought to indicate growth in the manufacturing sector. If manufacturing is growing, improvement in rail carloads of raw materials, like chemicals and steel which are used in the production of goods, could be seen next month.
U.S. rail intermodal traffic was down 6.7 percent compared with November 2008, and down 14.1 percent compared to November 2007. Consumer confidence rose to 49.5 in November 2009 from 48.7 in October 2009. Since much of rail intermodal traffic consists of consumer goods, the strong positive correlation between consumer confidence and consumer spending indicates that rail intermodal traffic could increase in the coming months should consumer confidence continue to trend upward.
Stocks of Note - Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI), Freightcar America, Inc. (Nasdaq: RAIL), Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP), American Railcar Industries, In (Nasdaq: ARII), Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU), CSX (NYSE: CSX), RailAmerica (NYSE: RA), Canadian National (NYSE: CNI), Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC).
To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aar-reports-november-traffic-continues-to-show-improvement-78866537.html
While rail carloads are still down overall, December's Rail Time Indicators report illustrates that the recovery in U.S. manufacturing seems to be continuing. The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), which measures how U.S. manufacturing is faring, was at 53.6 in November. A PMI over 50 is thought to indicate growth in the manufacturing sector. If manufacturing is growing, improvement in rail carloads of raw materials, like chemicals and steel which are used in the production of goods, could be seen next month.
U.S. rail intermodal traffic was down 6.7 percent compared with November 2008, and down 14.1 percent compared to November 2007. Consumer confidence rose to 49.5 in November 2009 from 48.7 in October 2009. Since much of rail intermodal traffic consists of consumer goods, the strong positive correlation between consumer confidence and consumer spending indicates that rail intermodal traffic could increase in the coming months should consumer confidence continue to trend upward.
Stocks of Note - Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI), Freightcar America, Inc. (Nasdaq: RAIL), Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP), American Railcar Industries, In (Nasdaq: ARII), Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU), CSX (NYSE: CSX), RailAmerica (NYSE: RA), Canadian National (NYSE: CNI), Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC).
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