Intermodal continues to carry the day for the North American freight railroad industry, registering a gain of nearly 20% for the week ending Feb. 20, 2016, the third consecutive week of double-digit growth, compared to the prior-year period, and offsetting weak carload traffic—which includes a sharp drop in crude oil.
Total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 497,210 carloads and intermodal units, up 5.1% compared with the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads reported on Feb. 24. Total carloads were 244,747, down 5.7%, but intermodal volume was 252,463 containers and trailers, up a whopping 18.2% compared to 2015.
Five of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2015. They included motor vehicles and parts, up 30.7% to 19,620 carloads; miscellaneous, up 22.5% to 8,376 carloads; and nonmetallic minerals, up 6.4% to 30,349 carloads. Commodity groups that posted decreases included petroleum and petroleum products, down 22.1% to 10,262 carloads; coal, down 20.2% to 76,571 carloads; and farm products excluding grain and food, down 5.7% to 15,622 carloads.
For the first 7 weeks of 2016, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 1,698,803 carloads, down 14.3% from the same point last year; and 1,815,728 intermodal units, up 7.3% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 7 weeks of 2016 was 3,514,531 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 4.4% compared to last year.
Canadian railroads reported 68,708 carloads for the week, down 1.2%, and 57,221 intermodal units, up 13.3%. For the first 7 weeks of 2016, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 903,225 carloads, containers and trailers, down 3.8%.
Mexican railroads reported 16,478 carloads for the week, up 4.6%, and 10,787 intermodal units, down 6.3%. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 7 weeks of 2016 was 189,284 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 2.0% from the same point last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending Feb. 20, 2016, on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 329,933 carloads, down 4.3% compared with the same week last year, and 320,471 intermodal units, up 16.3%. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 650,404 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.8%. North American rail volume for the first 7 weeks of 2016 was 4,607,040 carloads and intermodal units, down 4% compared with 2015.
Crude oil drain
In 2015, 410,249 carloads of crude oil were originated in the U.S., down 82,897 carloads, or 16.8%, from 2014. However, in terms of total originations, the CBR fall-off represented a mere 0.2% decline: In 2015, crude oil accounted for 1.4% of total U.S. originations compared to 2014, when it was 1.6%.
Looking only at 2015’s fourth quarter, the drain on CBR traffic was more pronounced. U.S. Class I railroads originated 84,925 carloads of crude oil in the fourth quarter of 2015, down 16,242 carloads, or 16.1%, from third-quarter 2015—and down 46,146 carloads, or 35.2%, from fourth-quarter 2014.
Click on the link below to download a PDF of the AAR’s most recent traffic charts.
Download attachments: 2016-02-24-railtraffic.pdf