North American rail volume up 3.3 percent in Week 25

North American rail volume for 12 U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 749,390 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending June 23, resulting in a 3.3 percent increase in traffic compared with the same week a year ago, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported this week.

U.S. carloads for the week rose 2.5 percent to 268,464 units, while intermodal volume jumped 4.9 percent to 288,876 containers and trailers compared with the same week in 2017.

Nine of the 10 carload commodity groups posted increases for the week compared with a year ago. They included metallic ores and metals, up 2,297 carloads to 24,786; grain, up 2,237 carloads to 24,104; and chemicals, up 2,059 carloads to 32,422. One commodity group posted a decrease compared with the same week in 2017: coal, down 3,103 carloads to 83,006.

Canadian railroads reported 83,301 carloads for the week, up 6.5 percent, and 69,868 intermodal units, up 4.1 percent compared with the same week in 2017. Mexican railroads posted 21,464 carloads and 17,417 intermodal units for the week, but did not report percentage changes from 2017.

For the first 25 weeks of 2018 compared with same period in 2017:
• North American railroads moved 17,975,309 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.2 percent;
• U.S. railroads logged 13,336,728 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.6 percent;
• Canadian railroads posted 3,686,302 carloads, containers and trailers, up 3.5 percent.

Mexican railroads reported moving 952,279 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers during the first 25 weeks of this year.