1. U.S. railroads originated 284,716 carloads for the week ending June 26, 2010, up 11.4 percent compared with the same week in 2009 (but down 13.2 percent from 2008).

2. Intermodal traffic totaled 227,229 trailers and containers, up 20.5 percent from a year ago and down only 1.1 percent compared with 2008.

3. Compared with the same week in 2009, container volume increased 22.1 percent and trailer volume rose 12.3 percent.

4. Seventeen of the 19 carload commodity groups increased from the comparable week in 2009, with metallic ores, up 172.2 percent; metals and metal products, up 75.4 percent; and motor vehicles and equipment, up 55.2 percent, posting the most significant gains.

5. Combined North American rail volume (U.S., Canada and Mexico) for the first 25 weeks of 2010 totaled 9,208,258 carloads, up 10.4 percent from last year, and 6,507,218 trailers and containers, up 12.9 percent from last year.

MP: Compared to last year, almost every measure of rail traffic for the U.S., Canada and Mexico has registered double-digit percent increases, and some measures like intermodal traffic in the U.S. are just slightly below 2008 levels.