U.S. rail carloads down, intermodal volumes up in Week 45

The intermodal business drove volume growth for U.S. railroads in the week ending Nov. 11, as they logged 547,480 carloads and intermodal units, a 1.2 percent increase compared with the same week last year.

Total carloads for the week fell 3.3 percent to 263,265 carloads, but intermodal volume rose 5.6 percent to 284,215 containers and trailers compared with the same week in 2016, according to Association of American Railroads' (AAR) data.

Five of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR follows on a weekly basis posted increases compared with the same week in 2016. They included included nonmetallic minerals, up 1,450 carloads to 38,318; chemicals, up 1,058 carloads to 30,662; and metallic ores and metals, up 892 carloads to 22,673.

Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2016 included coal, down 6,740 carloads to 85,378; grain, down 3,973 carloads to 22,845; and petroleum and petroleum products, down 865 carloads to 10,284.

For the first 45 weeks of 2017, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 11,702,354 carloads, up 3.1 percent from the same point last year; and 12,133,011 intermodal units, up 3.7 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 45 weeks of 2017 was 23,835,365 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 3.4 percent compared to last year.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads reported carload volumes for the week rose 0.2 percent to 81,073 units, while intermodal traffic jumped 16.1 percent to 69,896 units compared with the same week last year. For the first 45 weeks of 2017, Canadian railroads logged cumulative rail traffic volume of 6,556,429 carloads, containers and trailers, up 11 percent compared with the period in 2016.

Mexican railroads posted 17,064 carloads for the week, up 14.6 percent compared with the same week last year, and 11,638 intermodal units, up 10.9 percent. Mexican railroads' cumulative volume for the first 45 weeks of 2017 was 1,235,900 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 1.2 percent from the same point last year.