United States rail carload and intermodal volumes were mixed for the week ending October 20, according to data issued by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) this week.
Rail carloads, at 265,776, fell 0.7% annually and topped the week ending October 13 at 263,787 and trailed the week ending October 6 at 269,394.
AAR said that five of the ten carload commodity groups it tracks posted annual gains, including: petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,790 carloads, to 11,955; miscellaneous carloads, up 1,267 carloads, to 11,370; and metallic ores and metals, up 1,056 carloads, to 23,369. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2017 included nonmetallic minerals, down 3,788 carloads, to 36,102; grain, down 1,594 carloads, to 22,431; and farm products excl. grain, and food, down 722 carloads, to 16,808.
Intermodal containers and trailers saw a 1.6% annual increase to 289,330, which was ahead of the 285,970 recorded for the week ending October 13 and the 284,604 for the week ending October 6.
Through the first 42 weeks of 2018, U.S. carloads are up 1.8% annually to 11,047,756, and intermodal units, at 11,691,908, are up 5.7% for the same period.