The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has reported that U.S. rail traffic for the week ending October 8, 2016, totaled 521,789 carloads and intermodal units, a 6.1 percent decrease compared to the same week in 2015.
U.S. carloads, which totaled 264,165 for the week, were down by 5.9 percent compared to the same week last year. U.S. intermodal volume for the week totaled 257,624 units, a decrease of 6.4 percent compared to 2015.
Two of the 10 carload commodity groups that are tracked by the AAR posted an increase for the week ending October 8, 2016, when compared with the same week in 2015. Grain increased 8.2 percent to 26,845, and motor vehicles and parts were up by 6.2 percent to 18,946 carloads.
Petroleum and petroleum products showed the largest decrease in the commodity groups, with a drop of 29.8 percent to 9,587 carloads. Nonmetallic minerals declined by 9.5 percent to 35,305 carloads, and coal dropped 8.3 percent to 90,195 carloads.
For the first 40 weeks of 2016, U.S. rail volume totaled 20,342,617 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 6.9 percent when compared to last year. Carloads, with a total of 10,001,381, were down by 10.4 percent, and intermodal, with a total of 10,341,236, dropped by 3.3 percent.
On the 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, combined North American rail volume for the week ending October 8, 2016, was 692,404 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.2 percent.
For the first 40 weeks of 2016, North American rail volume was down 6.5 percent, with a total of 26,625,526 carloads and intermodal units.