The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has reported that total U.S. rail traffic for September 2016 was 2,109,578 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.8 percent or 106,647 carloads and intermodal units compared with September 2015.
September 2016 U.S. carload originations totaled 1,068,644, a drop of 5.4 percent, or 61,455 carloads, compared to September of last year. Excluding coal, carloads for the month were down 1.1 percent or 7,559 carloads compared to September 2015.
Intermodal traffic for September totaled 1,040,934 containers and trailers, down 45,192 units, or 4.2 percent, compared to last September.
Nine of the 20 commodity categories tracked by the AAR each month saw increases last month compared with September of 2015. Commodities showing the largest increases included waste and nonferrous scrap, up 28.8 percent, or 3,725 carloads; grain, up 11.2 percent, or 9,860 carloads; and nonmetallic minerals, up 7.5 percent, or 1,414 carloads.
Petroleum and petroleum products showed the largest decrease in the commodity groups, with a drop of 21.6 percent, or 11,810 carloads, and coal declined 13.1 percent, or 53,896 carloads. Primary metal products were down 9.5 percent, or 3,459 carloads.
“Rail traffic in September was more of what we have come to expect this year: big declines in energy related products, continued weakness in intermodal and most other export markets, but with some strength in grain,” said AAR Senior Vice President of Policy and Economics John T. Gray. “The fact is, in many of their markets, railroads are facing significant market uncertainties.”
“It isn't helping that rail regulators are seeking to put additional costly regulatory burdens on railroads too,” added Gray. “The inefficiencies and unnecessary costs railroads would incur if regulators succeed would make it that much harder for railroads to meet the needs of their customers and to allow the capital investment necessary to adapt their networks to a changing marketplace."
For the week ending October 1, 2016, a decrease of 4 percent was reported in total U.S. rail traffic compared with the same week in 2015. Carloads and intermodal units totaled 549,171.
For the week, there were 277,157 carloads, a drop of 4.4 percent compared with the same week in 2015, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 272,014 containers and trailers, down 3.5 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 10.6 percent, with a total 27,626 carloads; followed by motor vehicles and parts, up 6.2 percent, with a total of 19,755 carloads; and metallic ores and metals, up 3.8 percent to 22,524 carloads.
Miscellaneous carloads reported the largest decrease for the week compared to the same time period in 2015, with a total of 9,611 carloads, a drop of 25 percent. Petroleum and petroleum products were down by 22.2 percent to 10,320 carloads, and coal decreased by 10.3 percent to 91,943 carloads.
On the 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, combined North American rail volume for the week ending October 1, 2016, was 725,944 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.2 percent.
For the first 39 weeks of 2016, total U.S. rail traffic was down 6.9 percent, or 19,820,828 carloads and intermodal units, from the same time period in 2015. U.S. carloads totaled 9,737,216, a drop of 10.5 percent. Intermodal containers and trailers totaled 10,083,612 units, down 3.2 percent compared with the same period in 2015.
North American rail volume for the first 39 weeks of 2016 totaled 25,933,122, down 6.6 percent compared with 2015.