U.S. railroads log record intermodal volume for a week

U.S. railroads posted the highest week on record for intermodal traffic, which outpaced carload volume for the week ending June 13. U.S. railroads recorded 271,098 carloads, down 8.1 percent, but logged record intermodal volume of 283,363 containers and trailers, up 4.9 percent, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported yesterday.

U.S. railroads reported increases in four of 10 carload commodity groups: miscellaneous carloads were up 10.4 percent to 9,020 carloads; motor vehicles and parts, up 7.8 percent to 18,750; and chemicals, up 1 percent to 30,070 carloads. The commodity group reflecting the biggest drop in volume was coal, which declined 18.3 percent to 89,694 carloads.

Canadian railroads' carload traffic for the week plunged 16.9 percent to 73,655, but intermodal volume rose 7.5 percent to 63,612 units. Mexican railroads reported 16,780 carloads for the week, an increase of 1.5 percent, and 10,967 intermodal units, an increase of 4.3 percent.

For the first 23 weeks of the year, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 12,436,789 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 0.7 percent compared with the same period a year ago. Canadian railroads posted cumulative volume of 3,179,246 carloads, containers and trailers, up 3 percent; and Mexican railroads logged cumulative volume of 614,647 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 2.7 percent.