Written by: Stuart Chirls, Senior Editor While total carloads moving on U.S. railroads slowed through midsummer, coal continued its year-long growth according to data from the Association of American Railroads for the week ending July 22. Traffic totaled 534,152 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.1% compared with the same week in 2016. Total volume of 256,863 carloads was down 2%, while intermodal units of 277,289 containers and trailers gained 4.1% on-year. Just three of 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase led by coal, 5.3% to 88,304 carloads; nonmetallic minerals, 2.9% to 38,630 carloads, and forest products, 1.9% to 10,388 carloads. Commodity groups that posted decreases included grain, 15.8% to 20,316 carloads; miscellaneous carloads, down 15.2% to 9,258 carloads, and motor vehicles and parts, 3.2% to 12,696 carloads. For the first 29 weeks of 2017, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 7,448,686 carloads, up 5.7%, and 7,670,677 intermodal units, up 2.9%. Total combined traffic was 15,119,363 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 4.3%. North American rail volume for the week ending July 22 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 348,537 carloads, up 0.1%, and 356,487 intermodal units, up 5.5% compared with 2016. Total combined weekly traffic was 705,024 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.8%. North American rail volume for the first 29 weeks of 2017 was 20,030,682 carloads and intermodal units, up 5.5% compared with 2016. Canadian railroads reported 74,663 carloads for the week, up 6.5%, and 67,374 intermodal units, up 9.3%. For the first 29 weeks of this year, cumulative volume of 4,127,599 carloads, containers and trailers was 11.5% ahead of the same period in 2016. Mexican railroads reported 17,011 carloads for the week, up 6.9%, and 11,824 intermodal units, up 19.4%. Cumulative volume for the first 29 weeks of 2017 was 783,720 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 1% on-year. Continue reading...
