The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has reported that U.S. rail traffic for the week ending September 24, 2016, totaled 539,609 carloads and intermodal units, a 4.8 percent decrease compared to the same week in 2015.
U.S. carloads, which totaled 268,524 for the week, were down by 6.1 percent compared to the same week last year. U.S. intermodal volume for the week totaled 271,085 units, a decrease of 3.5 percent compared to 2015.
Four of the 10 carload commodity groups that are tracked by the AAR posted an increase for the week ending September 24, 2016, when compared with the same week in 2015. Grain increased 13.4 percent to 25,129; miscellaneous carloads were up by 3.6 percent to 10,488 carloads; and chemicals were up 2.3 percent to 30,194 carloads.
Petroleum and petroleum products showed the largest decrease in the commodity groups, with a drop of 20.2 percent to 10,379 carloads. Coal declined by 13.9 percent to 87,486 carloads, and forest products dropped 13.2 percent to 9,928 carloads.
For the first 38 weeks of 2016, U.S. rail volume totaled 19,271,657 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 7 percent when compared to last year. Carloads, with a total of 9,460,059, were down by 10.7 percent, and intermodal, with a total of 9,811,598, dropped by 3.2 percent.
On the 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, combined North American rail volume for the week ending September 24, 2016, was 710,655 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.5 percent.
For the first 38 weeks of 2016, North American rail volume was down 6.7 percent, with a total of 25,207,178 carloads and intermodal units.