The Association of American Railroads (AAR) recently reported that United States rail carload and intermodal volumes were again mixed for the week ending November 18.
Rail carloads were off 1.6% annually at 266,927, which topped the week ending November 11 at 263,265, and the week ending November 4 at 266,652.
AAR said that four of the 10 carload commodity groups it tracks posted annual gains, including: metallic ores and metals, up 4,537 carloads, to 23,696; nonmetallic minerals, up 3,675 carloads, to 38,355; and chemicals, up 1,334 carloads, to 31,939. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2016 included coal, down 8,528 carloads, to 86,185; grain, down 3,841 carloads, to 21,926; and petroleum and petroleum products, down 887 carloads, to 10,184.
Intermodal containers and trailers headed up 3.9% to 287,139, which was ahead of the 284,215 recorded for the week ending November 11 and the 272,097 recorded for the week ending November 4.
On a year to date basis through the first 46 weeks of 2017, U.S. carloads are up 3% annually at 11,969,281, and intermodal units are up 3.7% annually at 12,420,150.