U.S. rail traffic down 1.2% for the week ending April 13

Total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 528,167 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.2 percent for the week ending April 13, compared with the same week last year.

Total carloads for the week ending April 13 were 260,800 carloads, up 1.0 percent compared with the same week in 2018, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 267,367 containers and trailers, down 3.2 percent compared to 2018.

Three of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2018. They were coal, up 6,284 carloads, to 82,065; petroleum and petroleum products, up 3,736 carloads, to 13,387; and chemicals, up 395 carloads, to 32,355. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2018 included nonmetallic minerals, down 3,675 carloads, to 34,173; motor vehicles and parts, down 1,120 carloads, to 17,704; and grain, down 1,006 carloads, to 21,640.

For the first 15 weeks of 2019, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 3,707,826 carloads, down 2.8 percent from the same point last year; and 4,002,599 intermodal units, down 0.8 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 15 weeks of 2019 was 7,710,425 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 1.8 percent compared to last year.

North American rail volume for the week ending April 13, 2019, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 364,377 carloads, up 0.1 percent compared with the same week last year, and 356,390 intermodal units, down 1.3 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 720,767 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.6 percent. North American rail volume for the first 15 weeks of 2019 was 10,460,846 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.2 percent compared with 2018.

Canadian railroads reported 84,785 carloads for the week, essentially unchanged from 2018, and 74,039 intermodal units, up 10.2 percent compared with the same week in 2018. For the first 15 weeks of 2019, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 2,209,437 carloads, containers and trailers, up 2.0 percent.

Mexican railroads reported 18,792 carloads for the week, down 10.3 percent compared with the same week last year, and 14,984 intermodal units, down 15.3 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 15 weeks of 2019 was 540,984 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 5.4 percent from the same point last year.

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22nd April 2019