Railroad freight recovers in 2010; pulp and paper carloads 2.5% higher

摘要

The US economic recovery is evident in railroad traffic volumes, with total US rail carloads up 7.3% in 2010 from 2009 and all 19 commodities tracked showing annual increases, according to the Assn of American Railroads (AAR). The 7.3% increase may be the largest annual percentage increase in history, AAR noted, and definitely the biggest since 1988, the earliest year with comparable data. The recovery followed the biggest decline in history in 2009, when volumes dropped 16%.