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AAR reports weekly rail traffic for week ending May 14, 2016

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending May 14, 2016.

For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 498,379 carloads and intermodal units, down 9.2 percent compared with the same week last year.  

Total carloads for the week ending May 14 were 238,353 carloads, down 11.4 percent compared with the same week in 2015, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 260,026 containers and trailers, down 7.2 percent compared to 2015.  

Four of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2015. They included miscellaneous carloads, up 11.8 percent to 9,646 carloads; metallic ores and metals, up 5.5 percent to 23,881 carloads; and nonmetallic minerals, up 4.8 percent to 35,702 carloads. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2015 included coal, down 30.8 percent to 64,800 carloads; petroleum and petroleum products, down 19 percent to 11,727 carloads; and grain, down 8.5 percent to 18,373 carloads.  

For the first 19 weeks of 2016, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 4,559,020 carloads, down 14.2 percent from the same point last year; and 4,888,034 intermodal units, down 1.4 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 19 weeks of 2016 was 9,447,054 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 8 percent compared to last year.  

North American rail volume for the week ending May 14, 2016, on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 319,835 carloads, down 12.4 percent compared with the same week last year, and 329,731 intermodal units, down 7.3 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 649,566 carloads and intermodal units, down 9.9 percent. North American rail volume for the first 19 weeks of 2016 was 12,390,336 carloads and intermodal units, down 7.6 percent compared with 2015.  

Canadian railroads reported 64,651 carloads for the week, down 18.6 percent, and 57,876 intermodal units, down 9.6 percent compared with the same week in 2015. For the first 19 weeks of 2016, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 2,436,211 carloads, containers and trailers, down 7.3 percent.  

Mexican railroads reported 16,831 carloads for the week, up 0.7 percent compared with the same week last year, and 11,829 intermodal units, up 1.5 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 19 weeks of 2016 was 507,071 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 0.2 percent from the same point last year.