Weekly carloads flatten out

Rail freight flattened out for the week ending Nov. 4, as the Association of American Railroads reported U.S. traffic was 538,739 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.8% compared with the same week in 2016.

Volume totaled 266,652 carloads, off 1.7%, while intermodal volume was 272,087 containers and trailers, up 0.01%.

Five of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase on-year, including metallic ores and metals, 22.5%; nonmetallic minerals, 6.6%, and chemicals, 6%. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2016 included grain, 18.8%; petroleum and petroleum products, 11.2%, and coal, 6.5%.

For the first 44 weeks of 2017, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 11,439,089 carloads, up 3.3%, and 11,848,796 intermodal units, up 3.6% from the year-ago period. Total combined U.S. traffic was 23,287,885 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 3.5%.

Volume for the week on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 363,969 carloads, down 1.1%, and 354,947 intermodal units, up 3.7%. Total combined weekly traffic was 718,916 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.2%. North American rail volume for the first 44 weeks of 2017 was 30,900,543 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.9%.

Canadian railroads reported 81,942 carloads for the week, up 0.9%, and 71,119 intermodal units, up 23.1%. For the first 44 weeks, cumulative volume was 6,405,460 carloads, containers and trailers, up 11.1%

Mexican railroads reported 15,375 carloads for the week, down 2.7%, and 11,741 intermodal units, down 4.9%. Volume for the first 44 weeks was 1,207,198 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 1% from the same point a year ago.