Rail traffic up in June

Rail traffic up in June    The Association of American Railroads said Monday that monthly rail carloads for July rose 4.1 percent compared with the same period last year, but still down 14.6 percent compared with July 2008.
   According to AAR's August Rail Time Indicators Report, intermodal traffic in July was up 17.3 percent compared with the same month in 2009, but also down 5.1 percent compared with July 2008.
   Seasonally adjusted AAR data showed month-to-month gains in carloads for July, up 3.2 percent from June, as well as intermodal traffic, up 2.4 percent from the previous month.
   “We typically see a lull in some categories of traffic this time of year, so looking at seasonally adjusted data may be more helpful in gauging rail traffic this month,' said John Gray, AAR senior vice president. 'Coal and autos are the two commodities most often affected by seasonal issues in July, and both saw seasonally adjusted traffic gains last month.'
   While railroads brought 5,808 railcars out of storage last month, there remain 359,471 cars, or roughly 23.4 percent of the North America railcar fleet, waiting to be used.
   Railroads added 1,560 people to the employee rolls in June, bring employment at U.S. Class I railroads to 151,527.