For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 562,804 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.4 percent compared with the same week last year.
Total carloads for the week ending Oct. 27 were 268,535 carloads, up 2.6 percent compared with the same week in 2017, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 294,269 containers and trailers, up 6.1 percent compared to 2017.
Eight of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2017. They included coal, up 4,373 carloads, to 87,975; petroleum and petroleum products, up 3,548 carloads, to 13,188; and chemicals, up 1,681 carloads, to 31,689. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2017 were nonmetallic minerals, down 4,097 carloads, to 35,193; and motor vehicles and parts, down 816 carloads, to 16,852.
For the first 43 weeks of 2018, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 11,316,291 carloads, up 1.9 percent from the same point last year; and 11,986,177 intermodal units, up 5.7 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 43 weeks of 2018 was 23,302,468 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 3.8 percent compared to last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending Oct. 27, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads totaled 376,943 carloads, up 3 percent compared with the same week last year, and 389,322 intermodal units, up 5.4 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 766,265 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.2 percent. North American rail volume for the first 43 weeks of 2018 was 31,448,451 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.5 percent compared with 2017.
Canadian railroads reported 88,696 carloads for the week, up 7.5 percent, and 73,726 intermodal units, up 4.8 percent compared with the same week in 2017. For the first 43 weeks of 2018, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 6,477,297 carloads, containers and trailers, up 3.7 percent.
Mexican railroads reported 19,712 carloads for the week, down 8.8 percent compared with the same week last year, and 21,327 intermodal units, down 1.7 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 43 weeks of 2018 was 1,668,686 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers.
— An Association of American Railroads news release. Nov. 1, 2018
We continue to march toward a future where intermodal is the dominant traffic and carload and unit train traffic have to “fit in”. Instead of working toward that future, all we hear is PSR – which is a cost-focused discipline. Is anybody awake in Omaha, Ft. Worth, Norfolk or Jacksonville?