For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 517,130 carloads and intermodal units, down 9.4% compared with the same week last year.
Total carloads for the week ending Dec. 7 were 248,174 carloads, down 7.2% compared with the same week in 2018, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 268,956 containers and trailers, down 11.3% compared to 2018.
Four of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2018. They included miscellaneous carloads, up 383 carloads, to 11,255; petroleum and petroleum products, up 300 carloads, to 13,595; and non-metallic minerals, up 181 carloads, to 32,014. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2018 included coal, down 16,385 carloads, to 72,402; metallic ores and metals, down 2,296 carloads, to 20,220; and motor vehicles and parts, down 674 carloads, to 17,175.
For the first 49 weeks of 2019, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 12,292,476 carloads, down 4.6% from the same point last year; and 13,010,592 intermodal units, down 4.9% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 49 weeks of 2019 was 25,303,068 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 4.8% compared to last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending Dec. 7, 2019, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads totaled 353,611 carloads, down 4.6% compared with the same week last year, and 354,349 intermodal units, down 10.4% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 707,960 carloads and intermodal units, down 7.6%. North American rail volume for the first 49 weeks of 2019 was 34,554,715 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.7% compared with 2018.
Canadian railroads reported 85,769 carloads for the week, up 4.4%, and 67,212 intermodal units, down 8% compared with the same week in 2018. For the first 49 weeks of 2019, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 7,401,123 carloads, containers and trailers, down 0.3%.
Mexican railroads reported 19,668 carloads for the week, down 7% compared with the same week last year, and 18,181 intermodal units, down 4.9%. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 49 weeks of 2019 was 1,850,524 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 2.8% from the same point last year.
— From an Association of American Railroads news release. Dec. 11, 2019.
