For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 529,263 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.7% compared with the same week last year.
Total carloads for the week ending May 11 were 258,641 carloads, down 3.1% compared with the same week in 2018, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 270,622 containers and trailers, down 4.3% compared to 2018.
Three of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2018. They were petroleum and petroleum products, up 2,900 carloads, to 13,048; miscellaneous carloads, up 475 carloads, to 9,570; and motor vehicles and parts, up 64 carloads, to 16,986. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2018 included non-metallic minerals, down 6,963 carloads, to 35,393; metallic ores and metals, down 2,701 carloads, to 21,151; and coal, down 753 carloads, to 80,601.
For the first 19 weeks of 2019, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 4,764,353 carloads, down 2.4% from the same point last year; and 5,069,755 intermodal units, down 1.7% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 19 weeks of 2019 was 9,834,108 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 2% compared to last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending May 11, 2019, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads totaled 365,380 carloads, down 1.9% compared with the same week last year, and 359,222 intermodal units, down 3.1% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 724,602 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.5%. North American rail volume for the first 19 weeks of 2019 was 13,363,510 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.3% compared with 2018.
Canadian railroads reported 85,195 carloads for the week, up 1.2%, and 69,992 intermodal units, down 1.1% compared with the same week in 2018. For the first 19 weeks of 2019, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 2,841,991 carloads, containers and trailers, up 2.4%.
Mexican railroads reported 21,544 carloads for the week, up 1.3% compared with the same week last year, and 18,608 intermodal units, up 7.6%. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 19 weeks of 2019 was 687,411 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 4.9% from the same point last year.
— An Association of American Railroads news release. May 15, 2019
Historically, rail traffic has risen and fallen several months ahead of major economic shifts, and has been used as an indicator of coming U.S. and world economic rises and falls. If this trend continues….be ready
Mr. McFarland: Still trying to win the 2016 election?
Jim Norton,
This has nothing to do with PSR and everything to do with the China trade war…the economic boom is a lie.
My gosh……we are in a booming economy and rail traffic is decreasing! Is this a function of Precision Scheduled Railroading? Why do railroads continue to “drop the ball” with so many opportunities?