For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 543,111 carloads and intermodal units, up 6.9 percent compared with the same week last year.
Total carloads for the week ending Jan. 19 were 258,833 carloads, up 7.4 percent compared with the same week in 2018, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 284,278 containers and trailers, up 6.5 percent compared to 2018.
Eight of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2018. They included coal, up 5,554 carloads, to 87,906; non-metallic minerals, up 3,614 carloads, to 29,994; and petroleum and petroleum products, up 3,151 carloads, to 13,710. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2018 were grain, down 415 carloads, to 22,913; and farm products excluding grain, and food, down 370 carloads, to 15,357.
For the first three weeks of 2019, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 746,832 carloads, up 8.1 percent from the same point last year; and 787,509 intermodal units, up 5.7-percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first three weeks of 2019 was 1,534,341 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 6.9-percent compared to last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending Jan. 19, 2019, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads totaled 361,884 carloads, up 7 percent compared with the same week last year, and 372,881 intermodal units, up 6.2 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 734,765 carloads and intermodal units, up 6.6 percent. North American rail volume for the first three weeks of 2019 was 2,080,658 carloads and intermodal units, up 7 percent compared with 2018.
Canadian railroads reported 84,670 carloads for the week, up 10.6 percent, and 71,008 intermodal units, up 8.8 percent compared with the same week in 2018. For the first three weeks of 2019, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 443,416 carloads, containers and trailers, up 11.1 percent.
Mexican railroads reported 18,381 carloads for the week, down 10.7 percent compared with the same week last year, and 17,595 intermodal units, down 5.9 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first three weeks of 2019 was 102,901 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 5.3 percent from the same point last year.
— An Association of American Railroads news release. Jan. 23, 2019.
A note to the AAR: instead of a sum and average for the year so far, it would be more useful to have a sum and average for the preceding 12 months. Right now, the cumulative numbers are not very enlightening.
Lets hear it for coal!