US short line and regional freight railroads operator RailAmerica has revealed its total freight carloads for December 2010 increased by 4% to 71,209 from 68,445 in December 2009.
The company said it increased shipments in December in nine out of 12 commodity groups compared with December 2009, which it attributed to shipments of coal, metallic ores and metals, and non-metallic minerals and products.
Coal increased primarily due to shipments in the central region of the US, while metallic ore and metal volume was up primarily due to increased shipments in the Midwest and north-east regions.
In addition, non-metallic minerals and product carloads increased due to higher shipments in the central and north-east regions.
The largest freight declines were in agricultural products and motor vehicles.
Agricultural products were down primarily due to lower shipments in the Midwest and west of the country, and motor vehicles were down primarily due to decreased shipments in the Midwest.
