The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has reported that U.S. rail traffic for the week ending August 27, 2016, totaled 539,657 carloads and intermodal units, a 6.2 percent decrease compared to the same week in 2015.
U.S. carloads, which totaled 269,645 for the week, were down by 7.3 percent compared to the same week last year. U.S. intermodal volume for the week totaled 270,012 units, a decrease of 5.1 percent compared to 2015.
Four of the 10 carload commodity groups that are tracked by the AAR posted an increase for the week ending August 27, 2016, when compared with the same week in 2015. Grain increased 18.8 percent to 21,727; motor vehicles and parts were up by 6 percent to 19,392 carloads; and farm products excluding grain and food were up 2.1 percent to 16,465 carloads.
Petroleum and petroleum products showed the largest decrease in the commodity groups, with a drop of 27.5 percent to 10,076 carloads. Coal declined by 15.9 percent to 91,469 carloads, and metallic ores and metals dropped 7.9 percent to 21,493 carloads.
For the first 34 weeks of 2016, U.S. rail volume totaled 17,172,424 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 7.2 percent when compared to last year. Carloads, with a total of 8,395,455, were down by 11.3 percent, and intermodal, with a total of 8,776,969, dropped by 3 percent.
On the 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, combined North American rail volume for the week ending August 27, 2016, was 702,717 carloads and intermodal units, down 5.7 percent.
For the first 34 weeks of 2016, North American rail volume was down 7 percent, with a total of 22,453,420 carloads and intermodal units.