U.S. railroads post carload, intermodal gains in Week 47

(Source: Progressive Railroading 11/29/2018)

U.S. railroads reported a combined gain of 3 percent in carload and intermodal traffic for the week ending Nov. 24, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

For the week, total carloads rose 1.7 percent to 232,954 units and intermodal volume increased 4.3 percent to 237,897 containers and trailers compared with the same week in 2017.

Seven of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR follows on a weekly basis logged increases. They included petroleum and petroleum products, up 3,501 carloads to 12,329; grain, up 1,373 carloads to 20,061; and chemicals, up 846 carloads to 27,851.

Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week a year ago were nonmetallic minerals, down 3,147 carloads to 25,346; farm products, excluding grain and food, down 461 carloads to 14,013; and motor vehicles and parts, down 202 carloads to 14,132.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads reported 84,509 carloads, up 7.8 percent, and 68,592 intermodal units, up 4.6 percent compared with the same week in 2017. Mexican railroads reported 18,916 carloads, down 11.2 percent, and 17,553 intermodal units, down 5.8 percent.

For the first 47 weeks of 2018:
• U.S. railroads reported total combined traffic of 25,427,142 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 3.7 percent compared with last year; 
• Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 7,107,185 carloads, containers and trailers, up 3.9 percent; and
• Mexican railroads reported cumulative volume of 1,821,073 carloads and intermodal units.