"Despite continued growth in intermodal
traffic, the 3.6% decline in U.S. rail
carloadings in December, following the
3.9% November decline, reinforces the
notion that the economy has quickly
developed downward momentum - which is
what the Fed was trying to arrest with
(Wednesday's) interest rate cut," said Craig
F. Rockey, the AAR's vice president.
"Harsh ice and snow storms in many parts
of the country (in December) clearly
compounded the general economy's impact
on rail volumes."

While carload traffic slumped, intermodal
traffic, spurred by strong imports, was
consistently strong throughout the year, with
a 3.5% gain in December, 3.1% increase in
the fourth quarter and a 3.9% gain for the
year. U.S. intermodal traffic reached a
record 9.18 million containers and trailers,
the fifth consecutive yearly record and the
first to exceed 9 million units.

There were some signs of an intermodal slowdown late in the year, though, as
container originations increased just 7.6% in
December, compared with 9.2% in the
fourth quarter and 10.1% for the year.
While containers are more heavily used for
imports and exports, they increasingly are
carrying domestic freight. Trailers, the other component of intermodal, are almost exclusively used for domestic traffic. The years-long decline in trailer volume actually slowed as the year progressed, with a 5.3% decline in December, a 9.7% drop in the final quarter, and a 9.2% decline for the
year.

Full story can be read at; http://www.joc.com/enews/20010105/sections/logis/w33033.shtml