AAR reports weekly rail traffic for week ending August 20, 2016
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending August 20, 2016.
For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 531,484 carloads and intermodal units, down 6.4 percent compared with the same week last year.
Total carloads for the week ending August 20 were 270,464 carloads, down 6.4 percent compared with the same week in 2015, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 261,020 containers and trailers, down 6.4 percent compared to 2015.
Four of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2015. They included grain, up 36.5 percent to 24,944 carloads; motor vehicles and parts, up 4.9 percent to 18,974 carloads; and miscellaneous carloads, up 4.8 percent to 10,558 carloads.Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2015 included petroleum and petroleum products, down 24.2 percent to 10,933 carloads; coal, down 16.6 percent to 89,599 carloads; and forest products, down 14.3 percent to 9,869 carloads.
For the first 33 weeks of 2016, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 8,126,642 carloads, down 11.4 percent from the same point last year; and 8,506,957 intermodal units, down 3 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 33 weeks of 2016 was 16,633,599 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 7.3 percent compared to last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending August 20, 2016, on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 356,785 carloads, down 6.3 percent compared with the same week last year, and 335,584 intermodal units, down 5.5 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 692,369 carloads and intermodal units, down 5.9 percent. North American rail volume for the first 33 weeks of 2016 was 21,751,535 carloads and intermodal units, down 7.1 percent compared with 2015.
Canadian railroads reported 70,786 carloads for the week, down 5.8 percent, and 62,881 intermodal units, down 1.5 percent compared with the same week in 2015. For the first 33 weeks of 2016, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 4,230,741 carloads, containers and trailers, down 7.2 percent.
Mexican railroads reported 15,535 carloads for the week, down 5.8 percent compared with the same week last year, and 11,683 intermodal units, down 4.7 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 33 weeks of 2016 was 887,195 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 1.9 percent from the same point last year.
Crude Oil Carload Update The AAR also reported U.S. Class I railroads originated 56,454 carloads of crude oil in the second quarter of 2016, down 6,807 carloads or 10.8 percent from the first quarter of 2016 and down 54,614 carloads or 49.2 percent from the second quarter of 2015.
