AAR reports annual volume gains for week ending July 7
United States rail carload and intermodal volumes posted annual gains for the week ending July 7, according to data released by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) this week.
Rail carloads, at 240,514, were up 5.4% annually, which is below the week ending June 30 at 270,916 and the week ending June 23 at 268,464.
AAR said that nine of the ten carload commodity groups it tracks posted annual gains for the week ending July 7, including: grain, up 3,207 carloads, to 21,299; nonmetallic minerals, up 2,341 carloads, to 35,270; and petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,808 carloads, to 10,257. One commodity group posted a decrease compared with the same week in 2017: coal, down 371 carloads, to 76,562.
Intermodal containers and trailers saw a 12% annual gain to 244,679, which was below the week ending June 30 at 293,327 and the week ending July 23 at 288,876.
Through the first 27 weeks of 2018, AAR reported that U.S. rail carloads are up 1.4% annually at 6,987,928, and intermodal units are up 6.2% at 7,398,236.
