The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has reported that U.S. rail traffic for the week ending October 22, 2016, totaled 544,092 carloads and intermodal units, a 1.7 percent decrease compared to the same week in 2015.
U.S. carloads, which totaled 268,551 for the week, were down by 5.8 percent compared to the same week last year. U.S. intermodal volume for the week totaled 275,541 units, an increase of 2.6 percent compared to 2015.
Three of the 10 carload commodity groups that are tracked by the AAR posted an increase for the week ending October 22, 2016, when compared with the same week in 2015. Miscellaneous carloads were up by 16.5 percent to 10,852 carloads; grain was up 4.6 percent to 26,442 carloads; and nonmetallic minerals, were up 0.1 percent to 37,324 carloads.
Petroleum and petroleum products showed the largest decrease in the commodity groups, with a drop of 24.4 percent to 10,037 carloads. Metallic ores and metals declined by 12.3 percent to 19,115 carloads, and coal dropped 10.5 percent to 90,272 carloads.
For the first 42 weeks of 2016, U.S. rail volume totaled 21,418,645 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 6.7 percent when compared to last year. Carloads, with a total of 10,532,634, were down by 10.2 percent, and intermodal, with a total of 10,886,011, dropped by 3.1 percent.
On the 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, combined North American rail volume for the week ending October 22, 2016, was 709,790 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.9 percent.
For the first 42 weeks of 2016, North American rail volume was down 6.3 percent, with a total of 28,036,119 carloads and intermodal units.