For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 508,958 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.7 percent compared with the same week last year.
Total carloads for the week ending March 9 were 238,104 carloads, down 7 percent compared with the same week in 2018, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 270,854 containers and trailers, down 2.6 percent compared to 2018.
One of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2018. It was petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,179 carloads, to 10,658. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2018 included coal, down 7,238 carloads, to 76,562; grain, down 3,716 carloads, to 19,219; and non-metallic minerals, down 3,116 carloads, to 30,217.
For the first 10 weeks of 2019, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 2,476,569 carloads, down 1 percent from the same point last year; and 2,681,521 intermodal units, down 0.4 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 10 weeks of 2019 was 5,158,090 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 0.7 percent compared to last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending March 9, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads totaled 335,243 carloads, down 6.3 percent compared with the same week last year, and 357,579 intermodal units, down 2.4 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 692,822 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.3 percent. North American rail volume for the first 10 weeks of 2019 was 6,941,242 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.7 percent compared with 2018.
Canadian railroads reported 75,534 carloads for the week, down 5.3 percent, and 67,818 intermodal units, down 2.1 percent compared with the same week in 2018. For the first 10 weeks of 2019, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 1,428,764 carloads, containers and trailers, up 1.3 percent.
Mexican railroads reported 21,605 carloads for the week, down 0.7 percent compared with the same week last year, and 18,907 intermodal units, up 0.3 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 10 weeks of 2019 was 354,388 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 7.6 percent from the same point last year.
— An Association of American Railroads news release. March 13, 2019.
Eric:
I’m with you. Subjectively, we’re entering the next (cyclic) recession after ten-years of growth. Trouble is, it’s world-wide this time – led by China’s GDP collapse. Tariffs aren’t helping either, especially in the world-wide logistics chain that’s been instituted since 1990. Put these issues together, add NAFTA2 to the mix, and you’ll have the perfect storm for the 2020 election (and a continued downturn in the global economy during 2019).
Monthly railroad carloading is a perfect barometer for our economy.
Or is the economy about to contract? I.e., recession?
With Interstates crowded with trucks it seems the railroads are not doing enough.