For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 536,358 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.8% compared with the same week last year.
Total carloads for the week ending May 18 were 267,006 carloads, up 2.2% compared with the same week in 2018, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 269,352 containers and trailers, down 5.5% compared to 2018.
Five of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2018. They included coal, up 5,696 carloads, to 84,256; petroleum and petroleum products, up 2,511 carloads, to 13,165; and chemicals, up 1,794 carloads, to 33,646. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2018 included non-metallic minerals, down 3,657 carloads, to 37,190; forest products, down 655 carloads, to 9,983; and miscellaneous carloads, down 432 carloads, to 9,422.
For the first 20 weeks of 2019, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 5,031,359 carloads, down 2.1% from the same point last year; and 5,339,107 intermodal units, down 1.9% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 20 weeks of 2019 was 10,370,466 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 2% compared to last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending May 18, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 373,951 carloads, up 1.9% compared with the same week last year, and 356,816 intermodal units, down 4.3% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 730,767 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.2%. North American rail volume for the first 20 weeks of 2019 was 14,094,277 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.3% compared with 2018.
Canadian railroads reported 85,865 carloads for the week, up 2.7%, and 69,605 intermodal units, down 1.8% compared with the same week in 2018. For the first 20 weeks of 2019, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 2,997,461 carloads, containers and trailers, up 2.3%.
Mexican railroads reported 21,080 carloads for the week, down 5.2% compared with the same week last year, and 17,859 intermodal units, up 6%. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 20 weeks of 2019 was 726,350 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 4.6% from the same point last year.
— An Association of American Railroads news release. May 22, 2019
