The Association of American Railroads reported last week that “The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending October 26, 2019.
For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 513,147 carloads and intermodal units, down 8.8 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending October 26 were 243,321 carloads, down 9.4 percent compared with the same week in 2018, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 269,826 containers and trailers, down 8.3 percent compared to 2018… Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2018 included coal, down 14,797 carloads, to 73,184; grain, down 2,152 carloads, to 21,135; and metallic ores and metals, down 2,064 carloads, to 21,291. For the first 43 weeks of 2019, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 10,843,404 carloads, down 4.2 percent from the same point last year; and 11,457,177 intermodal units, down 4.4 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 43 weeks of 2019 was 22,300,581 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 4.3 percent compared to last year.”
