U.S. rail traffic slide continued in Week 19

(Source: Progressive Railroading 05/16/2019)

The downward trend in U.S. rail traffic continued in Week 19, with railroads reporting 529,263 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.7 percent compared with the same week last year, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

For the week ending May 11, railroads registered 258,641 total carloads, down 3.1 percent, and 270,622 containers and trailers, down 4.3 percent.

Three of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR follows on a weekly basis posted increases during the week. They were petroleum and petroleum products, up 2,900 carloads to 13,048; miscellaneous carloads, up 475 carloads to 9,570; and motor vehicles and parts, up 64 carloads to 16,986.

Commodity groups that logged decreases during the week included nonmetallic minerals, down 6,963 carloads to 35,393; metallic ores and metals, down 2,701 carloads to 21,151; and coal, down 753 carloads to 80,601.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads reported 85,195 carloads for the week, up 1.2 percent, and 69,992 intermodal units, down 1.1 percent. Mexican railroads reported 21,544 carloads for the week, up 1.3 percent, and 18,608 intermodal units, up 7.6 percent.

For the first 19 weeks of 2019 compared with the same period a year ago:
• U.S. railroads posted 9,834,108 carloads and intermodal units, down 2 percent;
• Canadian railroads logged 2,841,991 carloads, containers and trailers, up 2.4 percent; and
• Mexican railroads registered 687,411 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 4.9 percent.