U.S. carloads, intermodal experience weekly decline

Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief
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Petroleum and petroleum products registered gains, along with forest products and miscellaneous carloads. All other commodity groups were down.

U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Feb. 9, 2019, was relatively flat, with carload declines cancelling out intermodal gains. For the week ending Feb. 16, carloads and intermodal both took hits, according to figures released by Association of American Railroads (AAR). Total carloads were 250,236, down 3.9% compared with the same week in 2018, while intermodal volume was 273,679 containers and trailers, down 2.1% compared to 2018. Combined U.S. weekly rail traffic was 523,915 carloads and intermodal units, down 3% compared with the same week last year.

Only three of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2018. They were petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,794 carloads, to 11,887; miscellaneous carloads, up 509 carloads, to 9,528; and forest products, up 26 carloads, to 9,981. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2018 included coal, down 7,853 carloads, to 80,105; nonmetallic minerals, down 2,038 carloads, to 32,012; and chemicals, down 793 carloads, to 32,321.

For the first seven weeks of 2019, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 1,730,989 carloads, up 0.1% from the same point last year; and 1,867,360 intermodal units, up 0.5% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first seven weeks of 2019 was 3,598,349 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 0.3% compared to last year.

North American rail volume for the week ending February 16, 2019, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 344,274 carloads, down 2.7% compared with the same week last year, and 353,755 intermodal units, down 2.6% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 698,029 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.7%. North American rail volume for the first seven weeks of 2019 was 4,832,295 carloads and intermodal units, up 0.3% compared with 2018.

Canadian railroads reported 73,275 carloads for the week, up 2.2%, and 62,783 intermodal units, down 5.1% compared with the same week in 2018. For the first seven weeks of 2019, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 999,293 carloads, containers and trailers, up 3.1%.

Mexican railroads reported 20,763 carloads for the week, down 3.9% compared with the same week last year, and 17,293 intermodal units, down 2.6%. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first seven weeks of 2019 was 234,653 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 10.6% from the same point last year.

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