AAR reports mixed carload and intermodal volumes for week ending December 10

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported this week that United States rail carload and intermodal volumes were mixed for the week ending December 10.

Carloads fell 4.3 percent to 259,058, which below the week ending December 3 at 274,329 and week ending November 26 at 229,866.  

The AAR said that grain was the only one of the 10 carload commodity groups it tracks that posted an increase compared with the same week in 2015, up 8.4 percent to 24,618 carloads. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2015 included petroleum and petroleum products, down 25.3 percent to 10,026 carloads; miscellaneous carloads, down 13.1 percent to 9,350 carloads; and coal, down 5.4 percent to 87,929 carloads.

Weekly intermodal containers and trailers were up 2.1 percent at 279,874, which topped the week ending December 3 at 278,801 at 273,421 and the week ending November 26 at 222,893.  

Through the first 49 weeks of 2016, the AAR said that U.S. rail carloads were down 8.9 percent at 12,382,276, and intermodal containers and trailers were off 2.4 percent annually at 12,758,495.