U.S. rail traffic up 3 percent in Week 7

U.S. railroads moved 539,963 carloads and intermodal units in the week ending Feb. 17, a 3.1 percent increase compared with the same week last year, according to Association of American Railroads' (AAR) data.

The railroads logged 260,454 carloads, down 0.6 percent, and 279,509 intermodal units, up 6.8 percent, compared with the same week last year.

Five of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR follows on a weekly basis posted increases compared with the same week a year ago. They included nonmetallic minerals, up 1,689 carloads to 34,048; chemicals, up 1,102 carloads to 33,104; and petroleum and petroleum products, up 208 carloads to 10,097.

Commodity groups that posted decreases for the week compared with a year ago included coal, down 2,978 carloads to 87,962; grain, down 1,316 carloads to 21,495; and miscellaneous carloads, down 235 carloads to 9,056.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads logged 71,591 carloads for the week, down 9.6 percent, and 66,267 intermodal units, up 6.9 percent compared with the same week in 2017. Mexican railroads recorded 21,754 carloads for the week, up 1 percent compared with the same week last year, and 17,908 intermodal units, down 7 percent.

For the first seven weeks of 2018 compared with the same period in 2017:
• U.S. railroads reported 3,587,054 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 0.7 percent;
• Canadian railroads reported 970,562 carloads, containers and trailers, up 0.1 percent; and
• Mexican railroads reported 261,422 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 1.1 percent.