For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 501,001 carloads and intermodal units, down 6.8 percent compared with the same week last year.
Total carloads for the week ending March 16 were 240,317 carloads, down 8.8 percent compared with the same week in 2018, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 260,684 containers and trailers, down 4.8 percent compared to 2018.
Two of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2018. They were petroleum and petroleum products, up 2,122 carloads, to 12,124; and motor vehicles and parts, up 806 carloads, to 17,926. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2018 included coal, down 13,701 carloads, to 72,190; grain, down 5,148 carloads, to 18,619; and non-metallic minerals, down 2,532 carloads, to 32,730.
For the first 11 weeks of 2019, U.S. railroads reported a cumulative volume of 2,716,886 carloads, down 1.7 percent from the same point last year; and 2,942,205 intermodal units, down 0.8 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 11 weeks of 2019 was 5,659,091 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 1.3-percent compared to last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending March 16, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads totaled 341,879 carloads, down 6.2 percent compared with the same week last year, and 347,129 intermodal units, down 3.8 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 689,008 carloads and intermodal units, down 5 percent. North American rail volume for the first 11 weeks of 2019 was 7,630,250 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.1 percent compared with 2018.
Canadian railroads reported 79,303 carloads for the week, down 0.01 percent, and 69,935 intermodal units, up 1.9 percent compared with the same week in 2018. For the first 11 weeks of 2019, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 1,578,002 carloads, containers and trailers, up 1.3 percent.
Mexican railroads reported 22,259 carloads for the week, up 2.4 percent compared with the same week last year, and 16,510 intermodal units, down 10 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 11 weeks of 2019 was 393,157 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 7.2 percent from the same point last year.
— An Association of American Railroads news release. March 20, 2019
Jim; this same kind of anomaly existed back in 2015; freight volumes had dropped yet all other indicators for the economy were good. I recollect talking to several transport analysts about how freight volumes had always been the canary in the coal mine where the economy was concerned and no one could explain the disconnect.
Maybe all the carloads are stuck in Indiana blocking grade-crossings…
Could all of the weather related issues, snow and now flooding be affecting car loads? I know that UP had stopped accepting intermodal traffic at Chicago. Some of those boxes might be moving on the highways.
Something dire is wrong here. The economy is sound, construction is booming and consumer consumption is at an all time high. Remember the predictions of how dramatically freight traffic would increase by 2020?! What the heck happened?!