For the week ending April 23, 2016, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 491,946 carloads and intermodal units, down 11.7% compared with the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on April 27, 2016.
Total carloads for the week ending April 23 were 230,599 carloads, down 17.1% compared with the same week in 2015, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 261,347 containers and trailers, down 6.3% compared to 2015.
Three of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2015. They were miscellaneous carloads, up 23.3% to 9,515 carloads; chemicals, up 1.6% to 30,858 carloads; and motor vehicles and parts, up 1.3% to 19,138 carloads. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2015 included coal, down 40.1% to 58,837 carloads; petroleum and petroleum products, down 24.9% to 11,348 carloads; and grain, down 7.9% to 18,340 carloads.
For the first 16 weeks of 2016, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 3,844,016 carloads, down 14.3% from the same point last year; and 4,109,691 intermodal units, down 0.2% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 16 weeks of 2016 was 7,953,707 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 7.6% compared to last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending April 23, 2016, on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 315,373 carloads, down 16.2% compared with the same week last year, and 333,142 intermodal units, down 5.4% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 648,515 carloads and intermodal units, down 11%. North American rail volume for the first 16 weeks of 2016 was 10,433,247 carloads and intermodal units, down 7.1% compared with 2015.
Canadian railroads reported 68,351 carloads for the week, down 16.3%, and 60,979 intermodal units, down 2.3% compared with the same week in 2015. For the first 16 weeks of 2016, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 2,056,046 carloads, containers and trailers, down 6.5 percent.
Mexican railroads reported 16,423 carloads for the week, down 0.1% compared with the same week last year, and 10,816 intermodal units, down 0.7%. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 16 weeks of 2016 was 423,494 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 0.6% from the same point last year.