AAR: U.S. carload, intermodal traffic falls in Week 42

U.S. freight-rail traffic dropped in carload and intermodal volumes during the week ending Oct. 24, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

For the week, total U.S. weekly traffic fell 5.6 percent to 553,144 carloads and intermodal units compared with the same week in 2014. Carload volume declined 7.4 percent to 284,523 carloads, and intermodal volume fell 3.7 percent to 268,621 containers and trailers.

Three of the 10 carload commodity groups posted increases for the week: Grain rose 13 percent to 25,301 carloads; motor vehicles and parts, 9.9 percent to 18,984; and miscellaneous carloads, up 2.6 percent to 8,972.

Commodity groups that logged decreases were petroleum and petroleum products, down 21.7 percent to 13,273 carloads; metallic ores and metals, down 18.5 percent to 21,759 carloads; and coal, down 12.7 percent to 100,829 carloads.

In Canada, railroads posted an 18.1 percent decline in carloads, but intermodal traffic rose 3.6 percent compared with the same week in 2014. In Mexico, railroads posted decreases in both groups: carloads were down 3.7 percent and intermodal units were down 10.2 percent.

For the first 42 weeks of 2015 compared with the same period last year, U.S. railroads logged cumulative volume of 11,725,829 carloads, down 4.5 percent, and 11,236,197 intermodal units, up 2.2 percent.

Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 5,784,017 carloads, containers and trailers, down 0.6 percent compared with the same 42-week period in 2014. Mexican railroads posted cumulative volume of 1,149,506 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, a 1.7 percent increase.