AAR: U.S. railroads' traffic gains continued in November's first week

For the week ending Nov. 8, U.S. railroads logged 297,694 carloads, up 0.2 percent, and 271,113 intermodal units, up 2.2 percent compared with volumes from the same week last year, according to the Association of American Railroads.

Total combined U.S. weekly traffic ratcheted up 1.1 percent to 568,807 units and five of 10 carload commodity groups posted gains, led by nonmetallic minerals at 13 percent and petroleum and petroleum products at 12.4 percent. Motor vehicles and parts volume tumbled 12.8 percent.

Through 2014’s first 45 weeks, U.S. railroads handled 13,128,434 carloads, up 3.5 percent, and 11,730,192 intermodal units, up 5.4 percent year over year.

For the week ending Nov. 8, Canadian railroads reported 85,893 carloads, up 0.4 percent, and 54,537 intermodal units, down 3.1 percent compared with the same 2013 period. Mexican railroads’ weekly carloads inched up 0.4 percent to 15,343 and their intermodal volume climbed 14.9 percent to 11,095 units.

Through 45 weeks, 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads handled 17,467,054 carloads, up 3.1 percent, and 14,791,896 containers and trailers, up 5.6 percent compared with the same 2013 period.