The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has reported that U.S. rail traffic for the week ending January 21, 2017, totaled 530,299 carloads and intermodal units, an 8.1 percent increase compared to the same week in 2016.
U.S. carloads, which totaled 262,496 for the week, were up by 10.7 percent compared to the same week last year. U.S. intermodal volume for the week totaled 267,803 units, an increase of 5.8 percent compared to 2016.
Eight of the 10 carload commodity groups that are tracked by the AAR posted an increase for the week ending January 21, 2017, when compared with the same week in 2016. Coal saw an increase of 22.4 percent to 90,786 carloads, and grain was up 16.3 percent to 24,485 carloads. Miscellaneous carloads increased to 10,052 carloads, or 12.7 percent.
Petroleum and petroleum products showed the largest decrease in the commodity groups, with a drop of 17.7 percent to 10,217 carloads. Forest products declined by 5 percent to 9,726 carloads.
For the first three weeks of 2017, U.S. rail volume totaled 1,487,945 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 0.5 percent when compared to last year. Carloads, with a total of 736,865, were up 2.5 percent, and intermodal, with a total of 751,080, dropped by 3.2 percent.
On the 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, combined North American rail volume for the week ending January 21, 2017, was 701,931 carloads and intermodal units, up by 8.4 percent.
For the first three weeks of 2017, North American rail volume was up 0.2 percent, with a total of 1,961,848 carloads and intermodal units.