The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has reported that U.S. rail traffic for the week ending November 19, 2016, totaled 547,804 carloads and intermodal units, a 2.8 percent increase compared to the same week in 2015.
U.S. carloads, which totaled 271,420 for the week, were up by 1.3 percent compared to the same week last year. U.S. intermodal volume for the week totaled 276,384 units, an increase of 4.4 percent compared to 2015.
Three of the 10 carload commodity groups that are tracked by the AAR posted an increase for the week ending November 19, 2016, when compared with the same week in 2015. Grain was up by 19.9 percent to 25,916 carloads; farm products, excluding grain and food, were up 3.5 percent to 17,057 carloads; and coal was up 1.7 percent to 94,751 carloads.
Petroleum and petroleum products showed the largest decrease in the commodity groups, with a drop of 6.9 percent to 11,076 carloads. Metallic ores and metals declined by 3.4 percent to 19,099 carloads, and motor vehicles and parts dropped 2.5 percent to 18,611 carloads.
For the first 46 weeks of 2016, U.S. rail volume totaled 23,595,950 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 6.1 percent when compared to last year. Carloads, with a total of 11,619,023, were down by 9.3 percent, and intermodal, with a total of 11,976,927, dropped by 2.7 percent.
On the 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, combined North American rail volume for the week ending November 19, 2016, was 719,699 carloads and intermodal units, up 4 percent.
For the first 46 weeks of 2016, North American rail volume was down 5.6 percent, with a total of 30,888,422 carloads and intermodal units.