AAR: U.S. rail traffic registered mixed results in year's second week

For the week ending Jan. 17, U.S. railroads reported 290,963 carloads, up 0.3 percent, and 260,893 intermodal loads, down 2.4 percent compared with volumes from the same week in 2014, according to the Association of American Railroads.

Total cumulative traffic dipped 1 percent to 551,856 units and only five of 10 carload commodity groups posted gains, led by grain at 18.2 percent and chemicals at 4.6 percent.

Through 2015’s first two weeks, U.S. railroads logged 567,536 carloads, up 3.7 percent, and 501,840 intermodal units, down 0.3 percent year over year.

For the week ending Jan. 17, Canadian railroads reported 79,206 carloads, up 2.9 percent, and 58,844 intermodal units, up 7.4 percent. Mexican railroads’ weekly carloads rose 4.6 percent to 16,595 units and their intermodal volume increased 4.3 percent to 11,235 units.

Through two weeks, 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads handled 386,764 carloads, up 1 percent, and 330,972 intermodal units, down 0.6 percent compared with the same 2014 period. North American rail volume through two weeks totaled 1,390,331 carloads and intermodal units, up 3 percent year over year.