Manufacturing and goods trading must still be hurting—and the cooler weather certainly hasn’t cooled off the drops—as total carloads for the week ended September 7 were 238,988 carloads, down 5.6% compared with the same week in 2018, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 230,297 containers and trailers, down 7.5% compared to 2018. Three of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2018. They were chemicals, up 1,425 carloads, to 30,888; miscellaneous carloads, up 42 carloads, to 8,674; and petroleum and petroleum products, up 1 carload, to 11,653. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2018 included commodities such as coal, down 5,965 carloads, to 79,446; grain, down 2,589 carloads, to 17,431; and nonmetallic minerals, down 2,524 carloads, to 32,734. For the first 36 weeks of 2019, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 9,110,692 carloads, down 3.4% from the same point last year; and 9,558,740 intermodal units, down 4% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 36 weeks of 2019 was 18,669,432 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 3.7% compared to last year. North American rail volume for the week ended September 7, 2019, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 335,381 carloads, down 6% compared with the same week last year, and 312,343 intermodal units, down 6.3% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 647,724 carloads and intermodal units, down 6.2%. North American rail volume for the first 36 weeks of 2019 was 25,472,443 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.6% compared with 2018. Canadian railroads reported 77,774 carloads for the week, down 6%, and 66,136 intermodal units, up 1.4% compared with the same week in 2018. For the first 36 weeks of 2019, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 5,455,151 carloads, containers and trailers, up 1.7%. Mexican railroads reported 18,619 carloads for the week, down 10.6% compared with the same week last year, and 15,910 intermodal units, down 17.8%. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 36 weeks of 2019 was 1,347,860 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 3.6% from the same point last year. The post U.S. Rail Traffic Still Falling As Fall Approaches appeared first on Railway Age. Continue reading...
