U.S. railroads logged 5 percent traffic growth in July

In July, U.S. railroads moved 2,156,435 carloads and intermodal units, marking a 5.2 percent increase over the same month in 2017.

The roads' intermodal volume grew 6.9 percent to 1,108,142 units, while carload volume ticked up 3.5 precent to 1,048,293 units, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

In addition, 15 of the 20 carload commodities that AAR tracks each month logged gains compared with July 2017. Those included grain, up 12,066 carloads or 14.7 percent; petroleum and petroleum products, up 9,661 carloads or 27 percent; and chemicals, up 5,649 carloads or 4.6 percent.

Commodities that logged carload decreases included coal, down 9,313 units or 2.7 percent and metallic ores, down 592 units or 2.3 percent.

"July saw especially strong gains in commodities related to the energy sector — and also in categories tied to consumer spending, including automotive and intermodal traffic," said AAR Senior Vice President of Policy and Economics John Gray. "Still of concern, though, is the potential negative impacts that could result from the ongoing discussions around trade."

Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 30 weeks of the year was 16,057,406 carloads and intermodal units, marking a 3.9 percent increase over the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads moved 4,435,493 carloads, containers and trailers for the first 30 weeks of the year, representing a 3.8 percent year-over-year increase. For their part, Mexican roads logged 1,150,193 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers through July.