United States rail carload and intermodal volumes were each down for the week ending January 26 according to data issued this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).
Rail carloads, at 248,397, fell 4.7% annually, which was below the 258,833 recorded for the week ending January 19 and the 266,240 for the week ending January 12.
AAR reported that two of the ten carload commodities it tracks saw annual gains, including: petroleum and petroleum products, up 2,121 carloads, to 13,627; and chemicals, up 297 carloads, to 31,190. Commodity groups that posted annual declines included coal, down 4,400 carloads, to 82,471; miscellaneous carloads, down 2,695 carloads, to 8,246; and nonmetallic minerals, down 2,503 carloads, to 30,172.
Intermodal containers and trailers, at 273,089, were off 3.3% annually, well below the 284,278 recorded for the week ending January 19 and the 288,887 for the week ending January 12.
For the first three weeks of 2019, U.S. carloads are up 4.6% annually to 995,769 and intermodal units, at 1,060,598, are up 3.2%.