Weekly rail traffic – the beat goes on
Written by David C. Lester, Editor-in-Chief
Due to COVID-19, AAR’s Research Review will be held online.
The drumbeat of declining weekly rail traffic goes on.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending August 10, 2019.
For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 533,190 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.3 percent compared with the same week last year.
Total carloads for the week ending August 10 were 261,194 carloads, down 3.9 percent compared with the same week in 2018, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 271,996 containers and trailers, down 4.6 percent compared to 2018.
Three of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2018. They were nonmetallic minerals, up 3,624 carloads, to 41,976; petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,543 carloads, to 13,424; and miscellaneous carloads, up 754 carloads, to 10,195. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2018 included coal, down 13,332 carloads, to 77,300; metallic ores and metals, down 1,483 carloads, to 22,347; and forest products, down 577 carloads, to 10,020.
For the first 32 weeks of 2019, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 8,077,512 carloads, down 3.2 percent from the same point last year; and 8,510,590 intermodal units, down 3.7 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 32 weeks of 2019 was 16,588,102 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 3.5 percent compared to last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending August 10, 2019, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 362,326 carloads, down 2.5 percent compared with the same week last year, and 362,549 intermodal units, down 2.9 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 724,875 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.7 percent. North American rail volume for the first 32 weeks of 2019 was 22,621,227 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.3 percent compared with 2018.
Canadian railroads reported 81,027 carloads for the week, up 1.5 percent, and 71,476 intermodal units, up 3.6 percent compared with the same week in 2018. For the first 32 weeks of 2019, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 4,836,907 carloads, containers and trailers, up 2 percent.
Mexican railroads reported 20,105 carloads for the week, up 1.6 percent compared with the same week last year, and 19,077 intermodal units, down 1.2 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 32 weeks of 2019 was 1,196,218 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 3.3 percent from the same point last year.
From an Association of American Railroads press release.
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