For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 523,915 carloads and intermodal units, down 3 percent compared with the same week last year.
Total carloads for the week ending Feb. 16 were 250,236 carloads, down 3.9 percent compared with the same week in 2018, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 273,679 containers and trailers, down 2.1 percent compared to 2018.
Three of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2018. They were petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,794 carloads, to 11,887; miscellaneous carloads, up 509 carloads, to 9,528; and forest products, up 26 carloads, to 9,981. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2018 included coal, down 7,853 carloads, to 80,105; nonmetallic minerals, down 2,038 carloads, to 32,012; and chemicals, down 793 carloads, to 32,321.
For the first seven weeks of 2019, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 1,730,989 carloads, up 0.1 percent from the same point last year; and 1,867,360 intermodal units, up 0.5 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first seven weeks of 2019 was 3,598,349 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 0.3 percent compared to last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending Feb. 16, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads totaled 344,274 carloads, down 2.7 percent compared with the same week last year, and 353,755 intermodal units, down 2.6 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 698,029 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.7 percent. North American rail volume for the first seven weeks of 2019 was 4,832,295 carloads and intermodal units, up 0.3 percent compared with 2018.
Canadian railroads reported 73,275 carloads for the week, up 2.2 percent, and 62,783 intermodal units, down 5.1 percent compared with the same week in 2018. For the first seven weeks of 2019, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 999,293 carloads, containers and trailers, up 3.1 percent.
Mexican railroads reported 20,763 carloads for the week, down 3.9 percent compared with the same week last year, and 17,293 intermodal units, down 2.6 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first seven weeks of 2019 was 234,653 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 10.6 percent from the same point last year.
— An Association of American Railroads news release. Feb. 20, 2019.
Or is this a first sign that we are headed to a recession!
Yes. What an “accomplishment ” by the railroads! The highways are bursting at the seams with driver shortages and the rr cannot increase business. Something is wrong and meanwhile the STB continues to sit on its hands.
Are we seeing the fruits of precision scheduled railroading?