Summer is construction season, and that means it’s time for the freight rail companies that haul the heavy materials for all those foundations, structures, struts, and beams to kick into high gear. In a typical year, U.S. railroads haul more than 2 million carloads of construction-related products, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).
As for how that breaks down, AAR statistics show that on average for each of the past four years, U.S. Class 1 railroads have hauled 773,216 carloads of crushed and broken stone; 545,968 carloads of primary metal products; 412,557 carloads of lumber and wood products; 225,928 carloads of cement; 86,418 carloads of concrete, gypsum, and plaster products; 21,873 carloads of paving and roofing materials; and 7,979 carloads of structural clay products. They also haul the construction equipment itself as well as much of the material that ends up inside those new structures—whether they’re homes, offices, stores, hospitals, or schools.
As the AAR likes to point out, rail is the obvious choice when it comes to hauling bulk commodities. It notes, for example, that a single rail car carries as much crushed stone, sand, or gravel as five trucks.
