The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has reported that U.S. rail traffic for the week ending August 20, 2016, totaled 531,484 carloads and intermodal units, a 6.4 percent decrease compared to the same week in 2015.
U.S. carloads, which totaled 270,464 for the week, were down by 6.4 percent compared to the same week last year. U.S. intermodal volume for the week totaled 261,020 units, a decrease of 6.4 percent compared to 2015.
U.S. Class I railroads also shipped 56,454 carloads of crude oil in the second quarter of 2016, a drop of 6,807 carloads, or 10.8 percent, from the first quarter of 2016. This was also a decrease of 49.2 percent, or 54,614 carloads, compared to the second quarter of 2015.
Four of the 10 carload commodity groups that are tracked by the AAR posted an increase for the week ending August 20, 2016, when compared with the same week in 2015. Grain increased 36.5 percent to 24,944; motor vehicles and parts were up by 4.9 percent to 18,974 carloads; and miscellaneous carloads were up 4.8 percent to 10,558 carloads.
Petroleum and petroleum products showed the largest decrease in the commodity groups, with a drop of 24.2 percent to 10,933 carloads. Coal declined by 16.6 percent to 89,599 carloads, and forest products dropped 14.3 percent to 9,869 carloads.
For the first 33 weeks of 2016, U.S. rail volume totaled 16,633,599 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 7.3 percent when compared to last year. Carloads, with a total of 8,126,642, were down by 11.4 percent, and intermodal, with a total of 8,506,957, dropped by 3 percent.
On the 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, combined North American rail volume for the week ending August 20, 2016, was 692,369 carloads and intermodal units, down 5.9 percent.
For the first 33 weeks of 2016, North American rail volume was down 7.1 percent, with a total of 21,751,535 carloads and intermodal units.