Rail carload and intermodal volumes are mixed for week ending August 8, reports AAR

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported that rail carload and intermodal volumes for the week ending August 8 were mixed.

Carloads were down 4.4 percent annually at 288,460 and were below the week ending August 1 at 289,657 and ahead of the week ending July 25 at 286,660.

The AAR said that five of the ten carload commodity groups it tracks saw annual gains for the week ending August 8, with miscellaneous carloads, up 14.2 percent to 9,117 and farm products, up 8.4 percent to 16,854 carloads. Petroleum and petroleum products were down 17.7 percent to 13,826 carloads, and metallic ores and metals, down 10 percent to 23,387 carloads.

Intermodal containers and trailers resumed its growth path after seeing a slight decline for the week ending August -its first in about five months. Volume for the week was down 3.1 percent annually at 274,424 containers and trailers, which topped the week ending August 1 at 269,468 and the week ending July 25 at 270,952.

Through the first 31 weeks of 2014, AAR said that U.S. carloads are down 4.2 percent at 8,595,439, and intermodal is up 2.5 percent at 8,211,341.