Gains again for U.S. freight traffic
Written by Douglas John Bowen
U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Aug. 16, 2014 kept its winning streak rolling, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday, Aug. 21.
U.S. freight carload traffic for the week rose 2.8% measured against the comparable week in 2013, AAR said, while U.S. intermodal volume moved up 5.4%. Total combined U.S. weekly rail traffic notched a 4% rise.
Nine of 10 of the carload commodity groups AAR tracks on a weekly basis posted increases compared with the same week in 2013, including petroleum and petroleum products up 19.5%, metallic ores and metals , up 11.6%, nonmetallic minerals, up 7.4%, and grain, up 7.1%. Only coal failed to reach the winner’s column, down 3.3% for the week.
Canadian rail traffic also did well during the week ending Aug. 16. Canadian freight carload traffic gained 4.4%, while Canadian intermodal volume registered an impressive percentage gain, up 10.1%, measured against the comparable week in 2013.
Mexican railroads fared less well, with Mexican freight carload traffic declining 2.9% for the week ending Aug. 16, while Mexican intermodal also retreated, down 1.1%.
Combined North American freight carload traffic for the first 33 weeks of 2014 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads was up 3.2%, while combined North American intermodal volume notched a 5.9% gain for the period.
