U.S., Canadian railroads post traffic gains in Week 25

U.S. rail traffic continued its climb in Week 25, with railroads reporting an increase of 3.6 percent in carloads and intermodal units compared with traffic during the same week a year ago, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) announced yesterday.

Total carloads for the week ending June 24 were 263,504 units, up 2.3 percent compared with the same week in 2016. Intermodal volume during the week rose 4.9 percent to 281,190 containers and trailers compared with last year's figure.

Four of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR tracks weekly posted increases compared with the same week in 2016. They included coal, up 11.2 percent to 85,975 carloads; nonmetallic minerals, up 10.4 percent to 39,632 carloads; and chemicals, up 2.2 percent to 30,391 carloads.

Commodity groups that logged decreases compared with the same week last year included petroleum and petroleum products, down 16 percent to 9,789 carloads; motor vehicles and parts, down 12.1 percent to 16,997 carloads; and metallic ores and metals, down 8.5 percent to 22,522 carloads.

Canadian railroads reported carload traffic in the week climbed 12 percent to 78,153 units, while intermodal volume surged 14.8 percent to 67,229 units compared with a year ago.

Reporting a 5 percent decrease in carload traffic in Week 25 were Mexican railroads, which logged 17,223 units compared with the same period last year. However, intermodal volume on Mexican railroads increased 10.4 percent to 12,222 containers and trailers during the week.

For the first 25 weeks of 2017 compared with 2016:
• U.S. railroads reported combined traffic of 13,045,765 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 4.5 percent. Carloads during the period rose 6.6 percent to 6,429,100 units; intermodal during the period increased 2.6 percent to 6,616,665 containers and trailers.
• Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 3,564,344 carloads, containers and trailers, up 11.6 percent.
• Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads was 673,590 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 1.3 percent.