Labor Day holiday skews railroad traffic

Written by: William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefIn reporting U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Sep. 12, 2015, the Association of American Railroads noted that carloads and intermodal units, at 510,797, were down 11.9% compared with the same week last year because the week contained the Labor Day Holiday, and the 2014 week did not.

Total carloads for the week ending Sep. 12 were 268,960 carloads, down 10.5% compared with the same week in 2014, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 241,837 containers and trailers, down 13.3% compared to 2014.

One of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2014. It was grain, up 3.6% to 17,897 carloads. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2014 included: metallic ores and metals, down 27.5% to 20,583 carloads; petroleum and petroleum products, down 15.8% to 14,231 carloads; and nonmetallic minerals, down 15.1% to 34,734 carloads.

For the first 36 weeks of 2015, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 10,019,235 carloads, down 4.3% from the same point last year; and 9,572,991 intermodal units, up 2.5% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 36 weeks of 2015 was 19,592,226 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 1.1% compared to last year.

North American rail volume for the week ending Sep. 12, 2015 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 357,653 carloads, down 10% compared with the same week last year, and 310,915 intermodal units, down 12% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 668,568 carloads and intermodal units, down 10.9%. North American rail volume for the first 36 weeks of 2015 was 25,536,759 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.6% compared with 2014.

Canadian railroads reported 72,320 carloads for the week, down 11.9%, and 55,896 intermodal units, down 10.2% compared with the same week in 2014. For the first 36 weeks of 2015, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 4,964,680 carloads, containers and trailers, up 0.6%.

Mexican railroads reported 16,373 carloads for the week, up 10.8% compared with the same week last year, and 13,182 intermodal units, up 8.9%. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 36 weeks of 2015 was 979,853 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 2.4% from the same point last year.