The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has reported that total U.S. rail traffic for August 2016 was 2,675,263 carloads and intermodal units, down 5.7 percent or 162,230 carloads and intermodal units compared with August 2015.
August 2016 U.S. carload originations totaled 1,347,989, a drop of 6.6 percent, or 95,341 carloads, compared to August of last year. Excluding coal, carloads for the month were down 1 percent or 8,703 carloads compared to August 2015.
Intermodal traffic for August totaled 1,327,274 containers and trailers, down 66,889 units, or 4.8 percent, compared to last August.
Eight of the 20 commodity categories tracked by the AAR each month saw increases last month compared with August of 2015. Commodities showing the largest increases included waste and nonferrous scrap, up 25.4 percent, or 4,182 carloads; grain, up 24.7 percent, or 23,857 carloads; and chemicals, up 1.1 percent, or 1,699 carloads.
Petroleum and petroleum products showed the largest decrease in the commodity groups, with a drop of 25.1 percent, or 17,650 carloads, and coal declined 16.1 percent, or 86,638 carloads. Crushed stone, gravel and sand were down 6.9 percent, or 8,913 carloads.
“While August showed improvements in some categories, the big story in terms of rail traffic last month was the continuing surge in carloads of grain,” said AAR Senior Vice President of Policy and Economics John T. Gray. “Railroads, along with barges and trucks, are a critical part of the grain logistical chain. The fact that this chain generally functions smoothly is a testament to the tremendous efforts that transportation providers, including railroads, put forth in support of their grain-related customers.”
For the week ending September 3, 2016, a decrease of 5 percent was reported in total U.S. rail traffic compared with the same week in 2015. Carloads and intermodal units totaled 538,826.
For the week, there were 273,117 carloads, a drop of 4.9 percent compared with the same week in 2015, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 265,709 containers and trailers, down 5 percent compared to 2015.
Five of the 10 carload commodity groups that are tracked by the AAR posted increases compared with the same week in 2015. Grain had the highest increase, up 30.2 percent, with a total 24,455 carloads; followed by miscellaneous carloads, up 24.1 percent, with a total of 11,425 carloads; and motor vehicles and parts, up 5.5 percent to 19,557 carloads.
Petroleum and petroleum products reported the largest decrease for the week compared to the same time period in 2015, with a total of 10,770 carloads, a drop of 24.4 percent. Coal was down by 16.2 percent to 90,575 carloads, and forest products decreased by 6.8 percent to 10,631 carloads.
On the 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, combined North American rail volume for the week ending September 3, 2016, was 703,721 carloads and intermodal units, down 4 percent.
For the first eight months of 2016, total U.S. rail traffic was down 7.2 percent, or 1,369,877 carloads and intermodal units, from the same time period in 2015. U.S. carloads totaled 8,668,572, a drop of 11.1 percent or 1,081,450 carloads. Intermodal containers and trailers totaled 9,042,678 units, down 3.1 percent, or 288,427 units, compared to the same period in 2015.
North American rail volume for the first 35 weeks of 2016 totaled 23,157,141 carloads and intermodal units, down 6.9 percent compared with 2015.