AAR: U.S. roads set new weekly intermodal volume record

In the week ending Sept. 13, U.S. railroads set a record for weekly intermodal volume at 279,052 units, according to the Association of American Railroads. Volume rose 5 percent year over year.

U.S. railroads also registered 300,388 carloads, up 1.4 percent, and 579,440 total traffic units, up 3.1 percent compared with volumes from the same week last year. Six of 10 carload commodity groups posted gains, led by petroleum and petroleum products at 29.9 percent, nonmetallic minerals at 9.7 percent, and metallic ores and metals at 6.3 percent.

For the week ending Sept. 13, Canadian railroads reported 81,934 carloads, down 4.7 percent, and 62,278 intermodal units, up 6.2 percent. Mexican railroads’ weekly carloads climbed 10.9 percent to 16,654 units and their intermodal volume inched up 0.5 percent to 12,289 units.

Through 2014’s first 37 weeks, U.S. railroads handled 10,718,782 carloads, up 3.5 percent, and 9,522,482 intermodal units, up 5.6 percent compared with the same 2013 period. Canadian railroads reported 2,929,918 carloads, up 1.4 percent, and 2,108,966 intermodal units, up 7.1 percent, while Mexican railroads logged 579,982 carloads, up 1.7 percent, and 385,629 intermodal units, up 4.4 percent.

Through 37 weeks, 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads registered 14,228,682 carloads, up 3 percent, and 12,017,077 containers and trailers, up 5.8 percent year over year.