Different mix for U.S. freight in latest week
Written by Douglas John Bowen
U.S. freight carload traffic declined during the week ending Nov. 22, 2014, ending a long winning streak, the Association of American Railroads reported, though intermodal volume and overall U.S. rail traffic still scored gains.
Total combined U.S. weekly rail traffic edged up 0.2%, measured against the comparable week in 2013, AAR said Wednesday, Nov. 26. U.S. intermodal helped with that gain, moving up 0.7%. But U.S. freight carload traffic fell 0.3%.
Five of the 10 carload commodity groups posted increases compared with the same week in 2013, including petroleum and petroleum products, up 11.5%. Among the declining commodities, farm products, excluding grain and food, fell 6.4%.
By contrast, Canadian freight carload traffic for the week ending Nov. 22 gained 2.9%, while intermodal advanced solidly, up 4.9%. Mexican freight carload traffic for the week rose 12.9% compared with the same week in 2013, while Mexican intermodal volume rose 5.1%
Combined North American rail volume for the first 47 weeks of 2014 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads was up #% measured against the comparable period in 2013. Combined North American intermodal volume was 5.4% ahead of last year.
