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.
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.
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.
Shipments of containers and trailers posted healthy gains while commodity carloads were weaker from a year ago.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.