For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 517,130 carloads and intermodal units, down 9.4% compared with the same week last year.
Total carloads for the week ending Dec. 7 were 248,174 carloads, down 7.2% compared with the same week in 2018, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 268,956 containers and trailers, down 11.3% compared to 2018.
Four of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2018. They included miscellaneous carloads, up 383 carloads, to 11,255; petroleum and petroleum products, up 300 carloads, to 13,595; and non-metallic minerals, up 181 carloads, to 32,014. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2018 included coal, down 16,385 carloads, to 72,402; metallic ores and metals, down 2,296 carloads, to 20,220; and motor vehicles and parts, down 674 carloads, to 17,175.
For the first 49 weeks of 2019, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 12,292,476 carloads, down 4.6% from the same point last year; and 13,010,592 intermodal units, down 4.9% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 49 weeks of 2019 was 25,303,068 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 4.8% compared to last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending Dec. 7, 2019, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads totaled 353,611 carloads, down 4.6% compared with the same week last year, and 354,349 intermodal units, down 10.4% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 707,960 carloads and intermodal units, down 7.6%. North American rail volume for the first 49 weeks of 2019 was 34,554,715 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.7% compared with 2018.
Canadian railroads reported 85,769 carloads for the week, up 4.4%, and 67,212 intermodal units, down 8% compared with the same week in 2018. For the first 49 weeks of 2019, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 7,401,123 carloads, containers and trailers, down 0.3%.
Mexican railroads reported 19,668 carloads for the week, down 7% compared with the same week last year, and 18,181 intermodal units, down 4.9%. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 49 weeks of 2019 was 1,850,524 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 2.8% from the same point last year.
— From an Association of American Railroads news release. Dec. 11, 2019.
G. Lawson Clark RailCamp Scholarship
Whats odd about media reports on the topic, is how quick they are to smear this as a gloomy national economic trend. Yet fail to point out the entire industry has alot of culpability of the loss as a side effect of its implementing of PSR across the entire network, almost all at once! Canadian traffic looks solid- CN and CP having been years ahead of the trend, would support this argument… Find a tool shop or manufacturer NOT hiring still… It’s also still pretty tuff to find a shortline that isn’t buried in traffic. Is trucking falling at the same rate…?
I am willing to concede intermodal’s low numbers on uncertainty of trade with China. However, everything else is a function of a failing business plan. You don’t do less of what you do in a strong economy unless you are really bad at what you do. Are there any industry leaders out there who, on pride alone, want railroads to be more relevant? Anybody?