United States rail carload and intermodal volumes for saw annual gains for the week ending September 15, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported this week.
Rail carloads, at 268,612, saw a 3.1% annual gain, which was ahead of the 253,293 recorded the week of September 8 and below the 280,336 for the week ending September 1.
AAR said that nine of the ten carload commodity groups it tracks were up annually, including: petroleum and petroleum products, up 4,253 carloads, to 13,335; chemicals, up 2,153 carloads, to 32,650; and farm products excl. grain, and food, up 1,986 carloads, to 16,583. One commodity group posted a decrease compared with the same week in 2017: coal, down 3,457 carloads, to 85,562.
Intermodal containers and trailers, at 284,391, saw a 6.5% annual gain, which topped the week ending September 8 at 248,951 and was below the week ending September 1 at 287,515.
For the first 37 weeks of 2018, AAR reported that U.S. rail carloads were up 2% at 9,703,638, and intermodal units rose 6% to 10,237,925.