U.S. railroads log another weekly traffic decline

U.S. rail traffic dipped 4.4 percent to 534,498 carloads and intermodal units in the week ending July 27 compared with the same week a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

U.S. railroads logged 261,706 carloads, down 3.5 percent, and 272,792 intermodal containers and trailers, down 5.3 percent.

Three of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR tracks on a weekly basis registered increases for the week. They were nonmetallic minerals, up 2,381 carloads to 38,326; miscellaneous, up 880 carloads to 10,399; and petroleum and petroleum products, up 500 carloads to 12,642.

Commodity groups that registered decreases during the week included coal, down 6,517 carloads to 81,255; grain, down 1,812 carloads to 22,342; and forest products, down 1,576 carloads to 9,490.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads posted mixed traffic results for the week: Carload volume rose 2.8 percent to 83,805 units, but intermodal volume slipped 0.9 percent to 70,776 containers and trailers.

Mexican railroads reported volume decreases for the week, with carloads down 2.2 percent to 20,895 units and intermodal activity down 1.7 percent to 18,659 containers and trailers.

For the first 30 weeks of 2019 compared with the same period in 2018:
• U.S. railroads reported 15,513,354 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.4 percent;
• Canadian railroads reported 4,527,710 carloads, containers and trailers, up 2.1 percent; and
• Mexican railroads reported 1,119,132 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 3.3 percent.