U.S. railroads report 4.9 percent traffic growth in Week 38

The growth in U.S. rail traffic continued unabated for the week ending Sept. 22, with railroads moving 567,078 carloads and intermodal units, a 4.9 percent increase compared with the same week a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

For the week ending Sept. 22, U.S. railroads moved 272,615 carloads, up 4.2 percent compared with the same week in 2017, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 294,463 containers and trailers, up 5.7 percent compared to 2017, according to an AAR press release.

Seven of the 10 commodity groups that AAR tracks on a weekly basis posted increases compared with the same week in 2017. They included petroleum and petroleum products, up 3,934 carloads to 13,131; grain, up 3,689 carloads to 23,297; and coal, up 3,490 carloads to 87,890.

Commodity groups that logged decreases compared with the same week last year were metallic ores and metals, down 1,241 carloads to 24,132; nonmetallic minerals, down 882 carloads to 38,505; and motor vehicles and parts, down 822 carloads to 17,001.

Canadian railroads reported 84,859 carloads for the week, up 4.1 percent, and 75,455 intermodal units, up 3.4 percent compared with the same week in 2017. Mexican railroads reported 20,482 carloads for the week, down 3.3 percent compared with the same week last year, and 18,857 intermodal units, down 9.8 percent.

For the first 38 weeks of 2018:
• U.S. railroads reported total combined traffic of 20,508,641 carloads and intermodal units, up 4 percent compared with last year;
• Canadian railroads posted cumulative volume of 5,681,405 carloads, containers and trailers, up 3.8 percent compared with the same period in 2017; and
• Mexican railroads recorded cumulative volume of 1,468,431 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers.