AAR publishes weekly rail traffic

The Association of American Railroads published data Wednesday for U.S. rail traffic throughout the week that ended on Nov. 21.

For the second to last week of November, U.S. weekly rail traffic totaled 532,532 intermodal units and carloads, showing a 5.7 percent decline compared to the same time period from 2014. Cumulative carloads for the week amounted to 267,830, which is a 9.4 percent decrease compared to 2014. Intermodal volume equaled 264,702 containers as well as trailers, which is 1.7 percent less than the same week of 2014.

Four out of the 10 commodity groups for carloads showed an increase when compared to the same time for 2014. These were motor vehicles and parts with a rise of 5.9 percent or 19,105 carloads, nonmetallic minerals with an increase of 2.1 percent or 35,420 carloads and miscellaneous carloads with a rise of 12.3 percent or 9,597 carloads.

The remaining six commodity groups for carloads showed declines. These included metallic ores and metals with a decline of 22.7 percent or 19,782 carloads, petroleum and related products with a reduction of 25.8 percent or 11,894 carloads and coal with a decrease of 16.8 percent or 92,998 carloads.

Cumulative U.S. traffic for weeks 1 through 46 in 2015 amount to 25,127,111 carloads as well as intermodal units. This shows a decline amounting to 1.7 percent when compared to the same time in 2014.