Late surge for US carload freight
Written by Railway Age Staff
AAR photo
Total U.S. rail traffic was 567,252 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending December 22, up 4.2% from the year-ago week.
The Association of American Railroads said volume was 277,111 carloads, up 3.1%, and intermodal volume was 290,141 containers and trailers, up 5.3% compared to 2017.
Six of the 10 carload commodity groups gained from a year ago. They included coal, up 4.5% to 93,964 carloads; petroleum and petroleum products, up 17.7% to 13,401 carloads, and chemicals, up 5.8% to 35,032 carloads.
Commodity groups weaker on-year included metallic ores and metals, down 4.7% to 24,385 carloads; nonmetallic minerals, down 0.8% to 32,826 carloads, and farm products excluding grain, and food, down 0.4% to 16,391 carloads.
For the first 51 weeks of 2018, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 13,430,308 carloads, up 1.7% from 2017, and 14,271,506 intermodal units, up 5.5%. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 51 weeks was 27,701,814 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 3.6%.
North American volume for the week on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 385,992 carloads, up 2.9%, and 379,667 intermodal units, up 4.8%. Total combined weekly traffic in North America was 765,659 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.9%. North American volume for the first 51 weeks of 2018 was 37,424,031 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.4% compared with 2017.
Canadian railroads reported 87,956 carloads for the week, up 4.8%, and 71,747 intermodal units, up 4.4%. For the first 51 weeks of 2018, Canadian railroads reported cumulative traffic of 7,738,993 carloads, containers and trailers, up 3.8%.
Mexican railroads reported 20,925 carloads for the week, down 6.2%, and 17,779 intermodal units, down 0.8%. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 51 weeks of 2018 was 1,983,224 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers.
