U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes see slight gains, reports AAR
Rail carloads headed up 2.5% annually to 265,756, and intermodal trailers and containers increased 0.3% annually to 260,765 units.
United States rail carload and intermodal volumes each saw annual gains for the week ending March 24, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).
Rail carloads headed up 2.5% annually to 265,756, which was ahead of the week ending March 17 at 263,352, and the week ending March 10 at 256,075.
And six of the ten carload commodity groups tracked by the AAR were up, including: coal, up 7,979 carloads, to 87,348; chemicals, up 1,756 carloads, to 33,788; and nonmetallic minerals, up 667 carloads, to 35,776. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2017 included motor vehicles and parts, down 1,717 carloads, to 16,675; miscellaneous carloads, down 1,504 carloads, to 9,417; and petroleum and petroleum products, down 697 carloads, to 9,889.
Intermodal trailers and containers increased 0.3% annually to 260,765 units, which was below the 273,986 units recorded the week of March 17 and the 278,207 units recorded the week of March 10.
Through the first 12 weeks of 2018, U.S rail carloads are off 0.5% annually at 3,030,729, and intermodal containers and trailers are up 5.7% at 3,227,100 units.
