AAR reports another week of annual U.S. rail carload and intermodal declines
United States rail carload and intermodal volumes saw annual declines for the week ending August 24, according to data issued by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) this week.
Rail carloads, at 261,031, fell 5.3%, trailing the week ending August 17 at 264,564, and the week ending August 10 at 261,194.
AAR noted that four of the ten carload commodity groups it tracks saw annual gains, including: miscellaneous carloads, up 961 carloads, to 10,973; petroleum and petroleum products, up 888 carloads, to 12,212; and motor vehicles and parts, up 609 carloads, to 17,422. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2018 included coal, down 10,166 carloads, to 81,319; metallic ores and metals, down 4,003 carloads, to 21,435; and forest products, down 1,093 carloads, to 9,743.
Intermodal containers and trailers, at 271,452, slipped 6.5% annually, trailing the week ending August 17 at 273,053 and the week ending August 10 at 271,996.
Through the first 34 weeks of 2019, AAR said that U.S. rail carloads, at 8,603,107, are down 3.4%, and intermodal units, at 9,055,095, are off 3.8%.
