AAR: U.S. carloads decreased, intermodal volumes continued to drop in week No. 7

At the end of February's third week, the number of U.S. carloads dipped slightly and intermodal volumes continued their descent. For the period ending Feb. 21, U.S. railroads carried a total of 259,544 carloads, representing a decrease of 7.8 percent compared with the same week last year, according to the Association of American Railroads. Intermodal units came in at 213,617, down 15.7 percent.

However, at 1,982,993 units, the overall volume of U.S. carloads shipped in the first seven weeks of 2015 increased 3.7 percent year over year. Total U.S. traffic of 3,657,857 carloads and intermodal units in the period represented a small increase of 0.8 percent.

Canadian railroads also registered a decrease in both weekly carloads and intermodal volumes, though to a lesser extent than in the U.S. For the week ending Feb. 21, Canadian roads reported 69,278 carloads, down 1.2 percent, and 50,580 intermodal units, down 4.7 percent compared with the same 2014 period.

Mexican railroads' weekly carloads dipped 0.5 percent to 15,697 carloads units and their intermodal volume dropped 1.9 percent to 11,164 units.

Through seven weeks, 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads handled 4,800,591 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.4 percent compared with the same 2014 period.