U.S. carload and intermodal weekly volumes see steep declines for week ending July 9, reports AAR

United States rail carload and intermodal volumes again saw steep annual declines for the week ending July 9, according to data issued by the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Volumes for this week were likely impacted by the July 4 holiday.

Weekly U.S. carloads dropped 16.5 percent annually at 228,615, which was below the week ending July 2 at 264,015, and the week ending June 25 at 257,965.

The AAR said that two of the 10 carload commodity groups it tracks were up compared to the same week a year ago, with miscellaneous carloads up 12.2 percent to 9,283 and grain up 12 percent to 20,746. Petroleum and petroleum products dropped 19 percent to 10,432 carloads, and coal fell 23.4 percent to 72,988.

Intermodal containers and trailers were off 17.9 percent annually to 215,498, which was below the 265,176 recorded the week ending July 2 and the 268,196 recorded for the week ending June 25.

On a year-to-date basis through the first 27 weeks of 2016, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 6,521,831 carloads, down 12.5 from the same point last year; and 6,928,501 intermodal units, down 2.7 percent from last year.