U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes see annual gains for week ending October 7, says AAR

United States rail carload and intermodal volumes both saw annual gains for the week ending October 7, according to data issued by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) this week.

Carloads headed up 2% to 269,336. This is below the week ending September 30 at 272,662 and the week ending September 23 at 263,200. 

And seven of the ten carload commodity groups tracked by the AAR were up compared to the same week last year, including: nonmetallic minerals, up 5,064 carloads, to 40,402; chemicals, up 3,006 carloads, to 31,190; and metallic ores and metals, up 1,680 carloads, to 21,299. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2016 were coal, down 2,681 carloads, to 87,521; grain, down 2,111 carloads, to 24,741; and motor vehicles and parts, down 1,747 carloads, to 17,194.

Intermodal containers and trailer units rose 10.8% annually to 285,490. This is below the week ending September, which hit a new weekly intermodal record at 286,893 and is now the second highest weekly intermodal tally, with the week ending September 23 rounding out the top three all-time intermodal weekly performances at 285,004.

Through the first 40 weeks of 2017, U.S. carloads are up 3.7% annually at 10,375,996, and intermodal units are up 3.7% for the same period at 10,718,042.