The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has reported that U.S. rail traffic for the week ending September 10, 2016, totaled 482,894 carloads and intermodal units, a 5.4 percent decrease compared to the same week in 2015.
U.S. carloads, which totaled 252,627 for the week, were down by 6 percent compared to the same week last year. U.S. intermodal volume for the week totaled 230,267 units, a decrease of 4.8 percent compared to 2015.
Three of the 10 carload commodity groups that are tracked by the AAR posted an increase for the week ending September 10, 2016, when compared with the same week in 2015. Grain increased 26.3 percent to 22,599; miscellaneous carloads were up by 16.1 percent to 8,593 carloads; and nonmetallic minerals were up 2 percent to 35,407 carloads.
Petroleum and petroleum products showed the largest decrease in the commodity groups, with a drop of 26.5 percent to 10,452 carloads. Coal declined by 15.7 percent to 87,058 carloads, and metallic ores and metals dropped 4.5 percent to 19,644 carloads.
For the first 36 weeks of 2016, U.S. rail volume totaled 18,194,144 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 7.1 percent when compared to last year. Carloads, with a total of 8,921,199, were down by 11 percent, and intermodal, with a total of 9,272,945, dropped by 3.1 percent.
On the 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, combined North American rail volume for the week ending September 10, 2016, was 637,854 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.5 percent.
For the first 36 weeks of 2016, North American rail volume was down 6.9 percent, with a total of 23,794,995 carloads and intermodal units.