U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes see slight annual gains

United States rail carload and intermodal volumes saw annual gains for the week ending October 6, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported this week.

Rail carloads, at 269,394, saw a 0.7% annual gain, and were below the weeks ending September 29 and September 22 at 272, 306 and 272,615, respectively.

AAR said that six of the ten carload commodity groups it tracks posted annual gains, including petroleum and petroleum products, up 2,579 carloads, to 12,545; coal, up 1,250 carloads, to 88,939; and metallic ores and metals, up 880 carloads, to 22,121. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2017 included grain, down 1,918 carloads, to 22,641; nonmetallic minerals, down 1,557 carloads, to 37,581; and miscellaneous carloads, down 154 carloads, to 9,860.

Intermodal containers and trailers headed up 1.8% annually to 284,604, which trailed the weeks ending September 29 and September 22 at 299,616 and 294,463, respectively. 

Through the first 40 weeks of 2018, the AAR reported that U.S. carloads are up 2% at 10,518,193 and intermodal units are up 5.9% at 11,116,608.