When I referenced ton miles, I'm speaking solely of the districts I've worked; none of which hauled coal on a regular basis, so I can't have an opinion of that. I have not followed national trends, either; what may seem like a national trend is to me nothing more than a subjective analysis of someone's statistical collection of data that may or may not accurately reflect a local situation. Often, local situations are the source of a domino effect. (El Paso 1997?)
Those BNSF districts I mentioned earlier have certainly seen a large increase in traffic since the early 1990's and a large hiring effect also, both of which directly affect operation results. Certainly, containerized traffic has had a noticable affect: the Alameda Corridor project still has more miles to add, and with little exceptions (Slab Train, Ethanol train) this is a containerized existence.