AAR: U.S. rail traffic drops 17.3 percent in week 22

U.S. railroads' total weekly traffic volume for the week ending June 4 fell 17.3 percent to 455,346 carloads and intermodal units compared with the same week a year ago, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Total carloads for the week dropped 16.6 percent to 224,258 carloads, while U.S. intermodal volume declined 17.9 percent to 231,088 containers and trailers compared with the same week in 2015.

Only two of the carload commodity groups posted increases for the week: grain, which rose 2.3 percent to 18,628 carloads; and miscellaneous carloads, which rose 0.5 percent to 9,008 carloads.

Petroleum and petroleum products — down 29.1 percent to 9,706 carloads — led the commodity groups that logged decreases for the week. Also posting decreases were coal, down down 23 percent to 68,008 carloads; and motor vehicles and parts, down 20.9 percent to 15,411 carloads.

Also during the week, Canadian railroads reported 66,457 carloads, down 11.3 percent, and 57,296 intermodal units, down 9.3 percent compared with the same week in 2015. Mexican railroads posted 16,336 carloads for the week, down 1.6 percent compared with the same week last year, and 11,653 intermodal units, down 0.9 percent.

For the first 22 weeks of 2016, U.S. railroads' combined traffic was 10,923,300 carloads and intermodal units, down 8.1 percent; Canadian railroads' cumulative traffic volume was 2,811,071 carloads, containers and trailers, down 7.6 percent; and Mexican railroads' cumulative volume was 593,290 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 0.1 percent from the same point last year.