For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 570,225 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.1 percent compared with the same week last year.
Total carloads for the week ending Dec. 8 were 267,000 carloads, up 0.3 percent compared with the same week in 2017, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 303,225 containers and trailers, up 5.7 percent compared to 2017.
Five of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2017. They included petroleum and petroleum products, up 2,464 carloads, to 13,286; miscellaneous carloads, up 1,754 carloads, to 10,824; and metallic ores and metals, up 400 carloads, to 22,517. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2017 included non-metallic minerals, down 2,271 carloads, to 31,809; coal, down 1,114 carloads, to 88,543; and grain, down 638 carloads, to 23,082.
For the first 49 weeks of 2018, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 12,885,663 carloads, up 1.7 percent from the same point last year; and 13,679,958 intermodal units, up 5.5 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 49 weeks of 2018 was 26,565,621 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 3.6 percent compared to last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending Dec. 8, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 370,277 carloads, up 0.04 percent compared with the same week last year, and 395,454 intermodal units, up 5.4 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 765,731 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.8 percent.
North American rail volume for the first 49 weeks of 2018 was 35,888,446 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.3 percent compared with 2017.
Canadian railroads reported 82,129 carloads for the week, up 0.1 percent, and 73,115 intermodal units, up 4.7 percent compared with the same week in 2017. For the first 49 weeks of 2018, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 7,421,846 carloads, containers and trailers, up 3.8 percent.
Mexican railroads reported 21,148 carloads for the week, down 3 percent compared with the same week last year, and 19,114 intermodal units, up 5 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 49 weeks of 2018 was 1,900,979 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers.
— An Association of American Railroads news release. Dec. 12, 2018.
