U.S. rail carloads down 4.3 percent in week 49

U.S. rail traffic dipped during the week ending Dec. 10, falling 1.1 percent to 538,932 carloads and intermodal units compared with the same week last year, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

U.S. railroads logged 259,058 carloads, down 4.3 percent for the week compared with a year ago. However, intermodal volume during the week increased 2.1 percent to 279,874 containers and trailers.

Only one of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR tracks on a weekly basis reflected an increase in the 49th week of 2016: Grain rose 8.4 percent to 24,618 carloads.

Canadian railroads reported 74,123 carloads for the week, up 0.9 percent, and 60,006 intermodal units, up 4.5 percent compared with the same week in 2015. Mexican railroads posted 15,310 carloads for the week, down 6 percent compared with the same week last year, and 11,246 intermodal units, up 13.4 percent.

For the first 49 weeks of 2016, U.S. railroads reported a total combined traffic of 25,140,771 carloads and intermodal units, down 5.7 percent compared with the same period a year ago. Canadian railroads' total cumulative volume for the 49-week period rolled in at 6,467,397 carloads, containers and trailers, down 3.8 percent; Mexican railroads' cumulative volume came in at 1,319,448 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 2.1 percent compared with the same period in 2015.