For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 501,624 carloads and intermodal units, down 9.6% compared with the same week last year.
Total carloads for the week ending Jan. 11 were 239,119 carloads, down 10.1% compared with the same week in 2019, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 262,505 containers and trailers, down 9.1% compared to 2019.
Three of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2019. They were chemicals, up 848 carloads, to 33,764; miscellaneous carloads, up 765 carloads, to 10,671; and petroleum and petroleum products, up 388 carloads, to 14,303. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2019 included coal, down 16,224 carloads, to 70,831; grain, down 6,385 carloads, to 18,304; and metallic ores and metals, down 3,333 carloads, to 21,059.
For the first two weeks of 2020, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 454,683 carloads, down 6.8% from the same point last year; and 460,955 intermodal units, down 8.4% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first two weeks of 2020 was 915,638 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 7.6% compared to last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending Jan. 11, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 339,236 carloads, down 8.5% compared with the same week last year, and 350,726 intermodal units, down 7.7% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 689,962 carloads and intermodal units, down 8.1%. North American rail volume for the first two weeks of 2020 was 1,259,635 carloads and intermodal units, down 6.4% compared with 2019.
Canadian railroads reported 79,508 carloads for the week, down 6.3%, and 69,486 intermodal units, down 3.9% compared with the same week in 2019. For the first two weeks of 2020, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 281,342 carloads, containers and trailers, down 2.4%.
Mexican railroads reported 20,609 carloads for the week, up 3.8% compared with the same week last year, and 18,735 intermodal units, down 0.2%. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first two weeks of 2020 was 62,655 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 5% from the same point last year.
— From an Association of American Railroads news release. Jan. 15, 2019.
