The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has reported that U.S. rail traffic for the week ending November 12, 2016, totaled 541,127 carloads and intermodal units, a 0.5 percent decrease compared to the same week in 2015.
U.S. carloads, which totaled 272,131 for the week, were up by 0.5 percent compared to the same week last year. U.S. intermodal volume for the week totaled 268,996 units, a decrease of 1.4 percent compared to 2015.
Six of the 10 carload commodity groups that are tracked by the AAR posted an increase for the week ending November 12, 2016, when compared with the same week in 2015. Grain was up by 23 percent to 26,817 carloads; miscellaneous carloads were up 5.4 percent to 9,566 carloads; and metallic ores and metals were up 5.2 percent to 21,806 carloads.
Petroleum and petroleum products showed the largest decrease in the commodity groups, with a drop of 15.4 percent to 11,146 carloads. Forest products declined by 5.6 percent to 9,677 carloads, and motor vehicles and parts dropped 5.4 percent to 17,227 carloads.
For the first 45 weeks of 2016, U.S. rail volume totaled 23,048,146 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 6.3 percent when compared to last year. Carloads, with a total of 11,347,603, were down by 9.6 percent, and intermodal, with a total of 11,700,543, dropped by 2.9 percent.
On the 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, combined North American rail volume for the week ending November 12, 2016, was 707,559 carloads and intermodal units, up 0.5 percent.
For the first 45 weeks of 2016, North American rail volume was down 5.8 percent, with a total of 30,168,723 carloads and intermodal units.