U.S. rail traffic down 3.9 percent in week No. 25

U.S. railroad traffic fell 3.9 percent to 526,161 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending June 25, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) announced yesterday.

Total carloads fell 5.2 percent to 257,965 units, while intermodal volume dropped 2.7 percent 268,196 containers and trailers compared with the same week in 2015.

Three of the 10 carload commodity groups posted increases for the week. They were: miscellaneous carloads, up 20.7 percent to 10,559 carloads; grain, up 16.5 percent to 22,182 carloads; and motor vehicles and parts, up 2.7 percent to 19,339 carloads.

Commodity groups that logged decreases included petroleum and petroleum products, down 15.3 percent to 11,657 carloads; coal, down 14.3 percent to 77,514 carloads; and forest products, down 7.1 percent to 10,623 carloads.

Canadian railroads reported 69,822 carloads for the week, down 13.2 percent, and 58,608 intermodal units, down 2.2 percent compared with the same week a year ago.

Mexican railroads' carload traffic for the week ticked up 2.1 percent to 17,819 units, while intermodal traffic declined 4.9 percent to 11,061 containers and trailers.

For the first 25 weeks of this year, U.S. railroads' total combined traffic was 12,479,028 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 7.8 percent compared with traffic during the first 25 weeks of 2015.

Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume for the first 25 weeks of 3,190,939 carloads, containers and trailers, down 7.8 percent. Mexican railroads posted 679,026 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers for the 25-week period, down 0.2 percent from the same point last year.