The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending January 6, 2018.
For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 415,862 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.6 percent compared with the same week last year.
Total carloads for the week ending January 6 were 208,646 carloads, down 5.2 percent compared with the same week in 2017, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 207,216 containers and trailers, down 3.9 percent compared to 2017. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first week of 2018 was 415,862 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 4.6 percent compared to last year.
One of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2017. It was petroleum and petroleum products, up 741 carloads, to 9,640. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2017 included coal, down 4,554 carloads, to 69,973; nonmetallic minerals, down 2,159 carloads, to 21,872; and grain, down 1,924 carloads, to 19,638.
North American rail volume for the week ending January 6, 2018, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 290,767 carloads, down 4.4 percent compared with the same week last year, and 273,095 intermodal units, down 2.5 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 563,862 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.5 percent. North American rail volume for the first week of 2018 was 563,862 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.5 percent compared with 2017.
Canadian railroads reported 66,871 carloads for the week, down 4.5 percent, and 52,469 intermodal units, up 2.7 percent compared with the same week in 2017. For the first week of 2018, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 119,340 carloads, containers and trailers, down 1.4 percent.
Mexican railroads reported 15,250 carloads for the week, up 7.9 percent compared with the same week last year, and 13,410 intermodal units, up 0.7 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first week of 2018 was 28,660 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 4.4 percent from the same point last year.
