U.S. railroads report 2.4 percent traffic increase in Week 47

U.S. railroads' carload and intermodal traffic activity rose in the week ending Nov. 25, according to the Association of American Railroads' (AAR) data.

Total reported U.S. rail traffic climbed 2.4 percent to 463,602 carloads and intermodal units compared with the same period in 2016, according to an AAR press release.

Total carloads for the week grew slightly at 0.2 percent to 230,326 units, while intermodal volume increased 4.7 percent to 233,276 containers and trailers compared with the same week a year ago.

Four of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR tracks on a weekly basis posted increases during the week. They included nonmetallic minerals, up 4,507 carloads to 29,579; metallic ores and metals, up 1,616 carloads to 19,802; and motor vehicles and parts, up 1,537 carloads to 14,309.

Commodity groups that logged decreases for the week compared with a year ago included grain, down 3,820 carloads to 18,771; coal, down 2,192 carloads to 81,340; and farm products excluding grain, and food, down 1,044 carloads, to 14,531.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads' carload activity remained flat at 78,305 units, while intermodal activity jumped 8.8 percent to 65,648 units for the week ending Nov. 25 compared with the same week in 2016. During the same week, Mexican railroads reported 16,329 carloads for the week, up 3.2 percent compared with the same week last year, and 10,998 intermodal units, up 0.1 percent.

For the first 47 weeks of 2017, U.S. railroads reported total combined traffic of 24,853,033 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.3 percent compared to last year.

Canadian railroads posted cumulative rail traffic volume of 6,848,611 carloads, containers and trailers, up 10.6 percent for the 47-week period compared with last year's traffic.

Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 47 weeks of 2017 was 1,291,903 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 1.4 percent from the same point last year.