The Association of American Railroads reported Thursday that US rail traffic for the week ending July 16, 2016, totalled 520,222 carloads and intermodal units, a 5.6 per cent decrease compared to the same week in 2015.
North American Rail Traffic Update: July 2016
US railroads’ traffic slump continued for the week ending July 16. Total US weekly traffic was 520,222 carloads and intermodal units, down 5.6 per cent compared with the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported Thursday.
Total carloads for the week declined 5.4 per cent to 262,202 units, while intermodal volume fell 5.8 per cent to 258,020 containers and trailers compared with the week in 2015.
Three of the 10 carload commodity groups posted increases for the week over last year. They were grain, up 25.3 per cent to 25,681 carloads; miscellaneous, up 14 per cent to 10,647 carloads; and chemicals, up 2.9 per cent to 30,917 carloads.
Commodity groups that posted decreases included petroleum and petroleum products, down 15.8 per cent to 11,221 carloads; coal, down 15.5 per cent to 84,272 carloads; and forest products, down 10.3 per cent to 9,894 carloads.
Canadian railroads logged 67,832 carloads for the week, down 11.1 per cent, and 59,043 intermodal units, down 5.6 per cent compared with the same week in 2015.
For the first 28 weeks of 2016, U.S. railroads reported a total combined traffic of 13,971,001 carloads and inter- modal units, down 7.6 per cent compared with last year’s figures. Canadian railroads posted cumulative rail traffic volume of 3,569,667 carloads, containers and trailers, down 7.8 per cent.
