The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported that  U.S. Class I railroads originated 108,590 carloads of crude oil in the fourth quarter of 2013, bringing total Class I crude oil originations for the year to 407,642 carloads. This is a 74 percent increase over the 233,819 carloads originated in 2012. In 2013, crude oil accounted for 1.4 percent of total U.S. Class I originations.

AAR also reported mixed U.S. rail traffic for the week ending March 8, 2014 with 274,480 total U.S. carloads, down 1 percent compared with the same week last year. Total U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 244,015 units, up 3.7 percent compared with the same week last year. Total combined U.S. weekly rail traffic was 518,495 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.2 percent compared with the same week last year.

Five of the 10 carload commodity groups tracked by AAR on a weekly basis posted increases compared with the same week in 2013, such as petroleum and petroleum products with 14,779 carloads, up 11.3 percent. Commodities showing a decrease compared with the same week last year such as motor vehicles and parts with 16,980 carloads, down 6.7 percent.

For the first 10 weeks of 2014, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 2,270,522 carloads, down 0.4 percent from the same point last year, and 2,421,107 intermodal units, up 1.4 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 10 weeks of 2014 was 5,141,629 carloads and intermodal units, up 0.5 percent from last year.

Canadian railroads reported 70,009 carloads for the week, down 11 percent, and 51,461 intermodal units, down 2.4 percent compared with the same week in 2013. For the first 10 weeks of 2014, Canadian railroads reported cumulative volume of 705,296 carloads, down 8.2 percent from the same point last year, and 507,113 intermodal units, down 1 percent from last year.

Mexican railroads reported 15,162 carloads for the week, down 1.1 percent compared with the same week last year, and 9,745 intermodal units, down 3.4 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 10 weeks of 2014 was 147,603 carloads, up 1.2 percent from the same point last year, and 95,605 intermodal units, up 1.2 percent from last year.

Combined North American rail volume for the first 10 weeks of 2014 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 3,573,421 carloads, down 1.9 percent compared with the same point last year, and 3,023,825 intermodal trailers and containers, up 0.9 percent compared with last year.