More carload commodity groups (12) advanced in the week ending Nov. 10 than in prior weeks, according to AAR. Gainers included petroleum products, up 45.5%, farm products excluding grain, up 24%, and motor vehicles and equipment, up 13.6%. Declining commodities included metallic ores, down 20.9%, coal, down 15.5%, and grain, down 9.8%.
Canadian freight carload volume broke even with volume from the comparable week in 2011, while Canadian intermodal volume rose 9%. Mexican freight carload volume advanced 3.2% for the week ended Nov. 10, while intermodal did even better, up 14.7%.
Combined North American freight carload volume for the first 45 weeks of 2012 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads was down 1.9% compared with the same point last year, while combined intermodal rose 4.5%.