U.S. railroads have broken their freight volume record for the ninth-straight
year — and
there's still one week's worth of traffic left to tally.

Through 51 weeks, the railroads' volume totaled 1.71 trillion ton-miles, besting
the
previous record of 1.69 trillion ton-miles set in 2005 and increasing 2.6
percent on a
year-over-year basis, according to Association of American Railroads data.

During the same period, the roads' carloads totaled 17.1 million units, up 1.4
percent, and
intermodal volume totaled 12.1 million units, up 5.2 percent compared with
similar 2005
data.

Through 51 weeks, Canadian railroads originated 3.8 million carloads, down 1.8
percent,
and 2.3 million trailers and containers, up 5.1 percent compared with the same
2005
period.

On a combined cumulative-volume basis through 51 weeks, 13 reporting U.S. and
Canadian railroads boosted carloads 0.8 percent to 20.1 million units and
increased
intermodal loads 5.2 percent to 14.4 million units compared with last year.

Meanwhile, Kansas City Southern de México S.A. de C.V.'s total carloads dropped
2.5
percent to 582,592 units and total intermodal loads rose 0.5 percent to 210,351
units
through 51 weeks.