For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 515,061 carloads and intermodal units, down 7.1% compared with the same week last year.
Total carloads for the week ending Oct. 5 were 247,028 carloads, down 8.5% compared with the same week in 2018, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 268,033 containers and trailers, down 5.8% compared to 2018.
Two of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2018. They were chemicals, up 1,247 carloads, to 32,610; and petroleum and petroleum products, up 57 carloads, to 12,592. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2018 included coal, down 12,097 carloads, to 76,970; metallic ores and metals, down 3,271 carloads, to 18,898; and grain, down 2,995 carloads, to 19,698.
For the first 40 weeks of 2019, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 10,111,274 carloads, down 3.9% from the same point last year; and 10,657,959 intermodal units, down 4.1% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 40 weeks of 2019 was 20,769,233 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 4% compared to last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending Oct. 5, 2019, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 343,401 carloads, down 8.6% compared with the same week last year, and 360,046 intermodal units, down 3.9% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 703,447 carloads and intermodal units, down 6.3%. North American rail volume for the first 40 weeks of 2019 was 28,351,266 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.9% compared with 2018.
Canadian railroads reported 76,176 carloads for the week, down 11.7%, and 72,550 intermodal units, up 3.6% compared with the same week in 2018. For the first 40 weeks of 2019, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 6,073,046 carloads, containers, and trailers, up 1.2%.
Mexican railroads reported 20,197 carloads for the week, up 2.9% compared with the same week last year, and 19,463 intermodal units, down 2.8%. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 40 weeks of 2019 was 1,508,987 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 2.8% from the same point last year.
— From an Association of American Railroads news release. Oct. 9, 2019.
