U.S. freight rail traffic during the week ending Nov. 8, 2014 maintained upward momentum, measured against the comparable week in 2013, the Association of American Railroads reported Thursday, Nov. 13.
U.S. freight carload traffic moved up a modest 0.2% compared with the same week last year, while U.S intermodal volume for the week advanced 2.2%. Total combined U.S. weekly rail traffic was up 1.1% from 2013 levels.
Only five of the 10 carload commodity groups AAR tracks on a weekly basis posted increases compared with the same week in 2013, including nonmetallic minerals , up 13%, and petroleum and petroleum products, up 12.4Declining commodity groups were led by motor vehicles and parts, down 12.8%.
Canadian freight carload traffic for the week ending Nov. 8 mimicked its U.S. counterpart, up 0.4%, but Canadian intermodal fell 3.1% measured against the comparable week of a year ago. Mexican freight carload traffic also gained 0.4%, while Mexican intermodal volume rose 14.9%.
Combined North American rail volume for the first 45 weeks of 2014 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads was up 3.1% measured against the comparable period in 2013. Combined North American intermodal volume was up 5.6%.