For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 568,941 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.9 percent compared with the same week last year.
Total carloads for the week ending Dec. 15 were 267,534 carloads, up 1.4 percent compared with the same week in 2017, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 301,407 containers and trailers, up 6.2 percent compared to 2017.
Five of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2017. They included coal, up 3,262 carloads, to 91,218; petroleum and petroleum products, up 2,897 carloads, to 13,551; and metallic ores and metals, up 820 carloads, to 23,929. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2017 included non-metallic minerals, down 2,078 carloads, to 30,549; grain, down 1,030 carloads, to 22,550; and motor vehicles and parts, down 340 carloads, to 17,304.
For the first 50 weeks of 2018, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 13,153,197 carloads, up 1.7-percent from the same point last year; and 13,981,365 intermodal units, up 5.5 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 50 weeks of 2018 was 27,134,562 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 3.6 percent compared to last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending Dec. 15, 2018, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 373,285 carloads, up 1.6 percent compared with the same week last year, and 393,598 intermodal units, up 6.2 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 766,883 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.9 percent. North American rail volume for the first 50 weeks of 2018 was 36,655,329 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.3 percent compared with 2017.
Canadian railroads reported 84,550 carloads for the week, up 3.4 percent, and 72,894 intermodal units, up 5.2 percent compared with the same week in 2017. For the first 50 weeks of 2018, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 7,579,290 carloads, containers and trailers, up 3.8 percent.
Mexican railroads reported 21,201 carloads for the week, down 2.3 percent compared with the same week last year, and 19,297 intermodal units, up 10.5 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 50 weeks of 2018 was 1,941,477 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers.
— An Association of American Railroads news release. Dec. 19, 2018.
