AAR reveals latest weekly rail freight traffic update

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) recently released the latest report about rail traffic within the U.S. for the week ending Sept. 19.

The sum of U.S. weekly rail traffic amounted to 566,734 carloads and intermodal units. This is a decrease of 2.5 percent compared to the same week of 2014. The sum carloads for the same week amounted to 285,320 carloads. This shows a reduction of 5.5 percent compared to the same time period in 2014. In contrast, U.S. weekly intermodal volume totaled to 281,414 trailers and containers; this is an increase of 0.6 percent compared to the same week of 2014.

Four out of the 10 carload commodity groups showed a rise compared to the same period from 2014. These include grain (which rose to 22,977 carloads, or by 19 percent), miscellaneous carloads (which rose to 9,061, or by 7.7 percent), and motor parts and vehicles (which rose to 18,695, or by 5.8 percent).

In contrast, other commodity groups reported declines in figures compared to the same week of 2014. These include petroleum and related products (down to 14,090 carloads, or 13.1 percent), metallic ores and metals (down to 22,044 carloads, or 22.9 percent), and coal (down to 103,244 carloads, or 9.1 percent).