North American Rail Freight Carloads for March 24

The following table details the number of freight carloads on major North American railroads for the week ended March 24 compared with the same week a year ago, according to the Association of American Railroads.

Raw goods including coal, lumber, and grain account for most carloads. For that reason, intermodal traffic -- truck trailers and multi-use containers hauled by rail, representing mainly finished goods, is reported separately.

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                        Total  Year Ago   YOY %   YTD 2012   YTD 2011   YTD %
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Intermodal total      292,881   276,408    6.0%  3,371,611  3,253,312    3.6%
 Containers           261,763   241,093    8.6%  2,994,443  2,841,376    5.4%
 Trailers              31,118    35,315  -11.9%    377,168    411,936   -8.4%

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Total carloads        370,379   391,304   -5.3%  4,460,212  4,496,985   -0.8%
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                        Total  Year Ago   YOY %   YTD 2012   YTD 2011   YTD %
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Grain                  29,647    34,104  -13.1%    369,160    396,299   -6.8%
Farm, ex-grain          4,565     3,666   24.5%     49,979     47,045    6.2%
Metallic ores          17,647    17,466    1.0%    229,428    214,370    7.0%
Coal                  120,628   144,732  -16.7%  1,546,989  1,675,588   -7.7%
Crushed stone          19,761    19,025    3.9%    214,584    194,100   10.6%
Non-metal minerals      6,120     6,905  -11.4%     69,990     73,508   -4.8%
Grain mill products    11,146    11,574   -3.7%    134,969    139,664   -3.4%
Food                    9,900     9,841    0.6%    116,520    115,635    0.8%
Primary forest          3,218     2,858   12.6%     37,576     36,093    4.1%
Lumber                  6,095     5,917    3.0%     68,709     61,394   11.9%
Pulp and paper          9,575     9,919   -3.5%    114,997    116,607   -1.4%
Chemicals              42,870    45,199   -5.2%    499,069    519,371   -3.9%
Petroleum Prod.        13,640    11,683   16.8%    170,077    141,003   20.6%
Stone, Clay, Glass     10,791    10,174    6.1%    121,724    112,254    8.4%
Coke                    4,560     4,026   13.3%     52,053     49,060    6.1%
Metals                 15,128    14,499    4.3%    178,119    164,582    8.2%
Motor vehicles         26,533    23,117   14.8%    292,856    253,068   15.7%
Iron & Steel Scrap      6,579     6,298    4.5%     75,851     72,956    4.0%
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                        Total  Year Ago   YOY %   YTD 2012   YTD 2011   YTD %
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Waste/nonferrous        3,830     3,797    0.9%     42,652     40,936    4.2%
All others              8,146     6,504   25.2%     74,910     73,452    2.0%
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NOTE: Includes U.S., Canada and Mexico Freight Carloads.

SOURCE: Association of American Railroads,

To contact the reporter on this story: Ainhoa Goyeneche in Washington at agoyenechecu@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Marco Babic at mbabic@bloomberg.net