Rail traffic weaker so far in 2018
Chemicals and coal turned in carload increases for the week of March 10, but year-to-date volume failed to keep pace with the 2017 period, according to the Association of American Railroads.
AAR
Best-ever month for chem carloads
Railroads in the United States originated 1,028,141 carloads in February, down 0.3% from the same month in 2017, the Association of American Railroads said.
Intermodal widens weekly lead
Shipments of containers and trailers posted healthy gains while commodity carloads were weaker from a year ago.
Intermodal trending higher in latest week
Intermodal traffic as it has for most of the year outpaced carload volumes that were flat among U.S. railroads for the week ending Feb. 17.
Carloads fall despite economic gains
In January, U.S. railroads originated 1,217,405 carloads, down 3.4% from the same month in 2017, and 1,310,141 containers and trailers, up 3.5%, according to the Association of American Railroads. Combined U.S. carload and intermodal originations were 2,527,546, up 0.1% from January 2017.
Petroleum pumped but carloads weaker
Petroleum and related products were one of the few gainers as the Association of American Railroads reported U.S. weekly rail traffic was 508,239 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.9% from the same week a year ago.
North American freight rail groups join on NAFTA support
The freight rail associations representing Mexico, the United States and Canada, sent a joint letter to negotiators ahead of the sixth formal round of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) discussions being held in Montreal, Quebec, Jan. 23-28.
Slight gain for rail freight traffic
U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Jan. 13, 2018 of 511,937 carloads and intermodal units represented a marginal 0.5% gain compared with the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on Jan. 17.
AAR: 2017 intermodal record
Total U.S. rail traffic was 397,032 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Dec. 30, down 6.8% compared with the same week in 2016, according to the Association of American Railroads.
Late surge for weekly carloads
The Association of American Railroads said U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Dec. 16, 2017 was 554,779 carloads and intermodal units, up 5.9% compared with the same week a year ago. Volume was 265,169 carloads, up 4.1%, while intermodal volume was 289,610 containers and trailers, up 7.6% from the year-ago week.