The Association of American Railroads (AAR) recently released its report about the U.S. rail traffic rates throughout the week of June 7, 2015: from June 7 to June 13, there were 554,461 carloads and intermodal units on U.S. rail traffic, a decrease of 1.9 percent when compared with the same time period in 2014.
The total number of carloads for that week amount to 281,098, which also shows a significant decrease of 8.1 percent compared to the same week last year.
In contract, U.S. intermodal volume for the week amounts to 283,363 trailers and containers, which is an increase of 4.9 percent when compared with the same week of 2014. This is the highest week for intermodal units that is on record.
Four of these 10 carload commodity groups have reported a rise when compared to the same week last year. These include a 10.4 percent rise in miscellaneous carloads to 9,020 carloads, a 7.8 percent increase in motor vehicles and parts to 18,750 and a one percent rise in chemicals to 30,070 carloads.
Commodity groups that report decreases in the same week last year include a 12.6 percent decrease in petroleum and petroleum products to 14,130 carloads, an 18.3 percent reduction in coal to 89,694 and a decrease of 7.5 percent in metallic ores and metals to 25,038 carloads.
