The Association of American Railroads reported last week that, for the week ending June 22, “…total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 525,116 carloads and intermodal units, down 5.8 percent compared with the same week last year.
Total carloads for the week ending June 22 were 257,836 carloads, down 4.0 percent compared with the same week in 2018, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 267,280 containers and trailers, down 7.5 percent compared to 2018.
One of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2018. It was petroleum and petroleum products, up 2,655 carloads, to 14,062. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2018 included coal, down 4,590 carloads, to 78,543; nonmetallic minerals, down 2,085 carloads, to 36,309; and metallic ores and metals, down 2,071 carloads, to 22,662.
For the first 25 weeks of 2019, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 6,290,803 carloads, down 2.9 percent from the same point last year; and 6,652,512 intermodal units, down 3.0 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 25 weeks of 2019 was 12,943,315 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 2.9 percent compared to last year.”