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US rail lobby: 42pc of carloads, 35pc of revenue linked to foreign trade
AN Association of American Railroads (AAR) study shows that 42 per cent of rail carloads and intermodal units, and 35 per cent of rail revenue, are linked to foreign trade.
Some 50,000 domestic rail jobs, accounting for more than US$5.5 billion in annual wages and benefits, depend directly on trade, the analysis of 2014 data found, reports the American Journal of Transportation.
If rail traffic indirectly associated with trade was included, the figures would be higher, said the AAR report.
"Today's global economy is firmly established and cannot be easily undone with rushed policy modifications," said a synopsis of the study.
"Doing so could have damaging and counterproductive effects on American workers and various industries - including a freight rail network that serves nearly every industrial, wholesale, retail and resource based sector of the economy," it said.
Said AAR president and CEO Edward Hamberger: "Efforts that curtail overall trade would threaten thousands of US freight rail jobs that depend on it and limit essential railroad revenues."
The report looked at a host of rail movements, analysing data from the 2014 Surface Transportation Board (STB) Waybill Sample - the most recent data available at the time of the analysis - other government data, information from US ports and Google Earth, among others.
The scope of operations and reach into the US economy discovered through the analysis was stark. In 2014, there were 329 million tons of exports handled, nearly double the still-sizeable 171 million tons of imports moved by rail.
Rail traffic associated with trade included movements of coal for export out of ports in Maryland, Virginia, the Gulf Coast and the Great Lakes; paper and forest products imported from Canada into the Midwest, as well as paper products exported from the southern US; imports and exports of Canadian and Mexican automotive products to and from auto factories in dozens of US states; containers of consumer goods from Asia coming ashore in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Tacoma, Savannah, Norfolk, and Newark; plastics shipped by rail from Texas and Louisiana to the East and West Coasts for export to Europe and Asia; iron ore mined in Minnesota and shipped by rail to Great Lakes ports; and grain grown in the Midwest and carried by rail to the Pacific Northwest and the Gulf Coast for export.
"These numbers validate our view that US policymakers should proceed with caution in their quest to reverse some impacts of globalisation," Mr Hamberger said.
Some 50,000 domestic rail jobs, accounting for more than US$5.5 billion in annual wages and benefits, depend directly on trade, the analysis of 2014 data found, reports the American Journal of Transportation.
If rail traffic indirectly associated with trade was included, the figures would be higher, said the AAR report.
"Today's global economy is firmly established and cannot be easily undone with rushed policy modifications," said a synopsis of the study.
"Doing so could have damaging and counterproductive effects on American workers and various industries - including a freight rail network that serves nearly every industrial, wholesale, retail and resource based sector of the economy," it said.
Said AAR president and CEO Edward Hamberger: "Efforts that curtail overall trade would threaten thousands of US freight rail jobs that depend on it and limit essential railroad revenues."
The report looked at a host of rail movements, analysing data from the 2014 Surface Transportation Board (STB) Waybill Sample - the most recent data available at the time of the analysis - other government data, information from US ports and Google Earth, among others.
The scope of operations and reach into the US economy discovered through the analysis was stark. In 2014, there were 329 million tons of exports handled, nearly double the still-sizeable 171 million tons of imports moved by rail.
Rail traffic associated with trade included movements of coal for export out of ports in Maryland, Virginia, the Gulf Coast and the Great Lakes; paper and forest products imported from Canada into the Midwest, as well as paper products exported from the southern US; imports and exports of Canadian and Mexican automotive products to and from auto factories in dozens of US states; containers of consumer goods from Asia coming ashore in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Tacoma, Savannah, Norfolk, and Newark; plastics shipped by rail from Texas and Louisiana to the East and West Coasts for export to Europe and Asia; iron ore mined in Minnesota and shipped by rail to Great Lakes ports; and grain grown in the Midwest and carried by rail to the Pacific Northwest and the Gulf Coast for export.
"These numbers validate our view that US policymakers should proceed with caution in their quest to reverse some impacts of globalisation," Mr Hamberger said.
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