The volume of rail freight carried in Canada totalled 31.3 million tonnes in October, down 0.6 per cent from the same month last year, said Statistics Canada Thursday. In October, freight originating in Canada decreased 0.3 per cent from the same month last year to 28.5 million tonnes.
In comparison, tonnages of logs and other wood in the rough (+148.2 per cent) were up in October compared with the same month last year.
Canada Railcar Loadings: October 2016
In October, freight originating in Canada decreased 0.3 per cent from the same month last year to 28.5 million tonnes.
Non-intermodal freight decreased 0.8 per cent to 307,260 carloads in October. The amount of freight loaded onto these cars declined 0.1 per cent from the same month a year earlier to 25.7 million tonnes.
Tonnages of iron ores and concentrates (-5.8%), fuel oils and crude petroleum (-20.4%), other chemical products and preparations (-53.1%) and nickel ores and concentrates (-72.6%) shipped by rail declined in October on a year-over-year basis.
In comparison, tonnages of other oil seeds and nuts and other agricultural products (+40.0%), colza seeds (canola) (+14.7%), gasoline and aviation turbine fuel (+55.2%) and logs and other wood in the rough (+148.2%) were up in October compared with the same month last year.
Intermodal freight loadings decreased 1.7 per cent to 190,737 units from October 2015 to October 2016. The 1.4 per cent decrease in containers-on-flat-cars moderated the 15.9 per cent decline in trailers-on-flat-cars. In terms of weight, intermodal traffic decreased 1.9 per cent to 2.8 million tonnes.
Freight traffic received from the United States fell 3.8 per cent to 2.8 million tonnes as a result of a 3.7 per cent decrease in non-intermodal freight and a 4.9 per cent decrease in intermodal freight from the United States.
