AAR reports another round of declines for week ending May 7

Both United States rail carload and intermodal volumes for the week ending May 7 were off on an annual basis, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported this week.

Rail carloads, at 233,047, were down 14.8 percent and below the week ending April 30 at 243,604 and ahead of the week ending April 23 at 230,599.

The AAR said that 3 of the 10 carload commodity groups it tracks were up compared to the same week a year ago, with miscellaneous carloads up 6.7 percent to 9,839, chemicals up 1.6 percent to 31,075, and grain up 0.1 percent to 18,004.

On the intermodal side, U.S. containers and trailers dropped 6.4 percent to 259,876, topping the week ending April 30 at 243,604 and below the week ending April 23 at 261,347.

Through the first 18 weeks of 2016, carloads are down 14.3 percent annually at 4,320,667, and intermodal containers and trailers are down 1.1 percent at 4,628,008.