For the week ending May 14, 2016, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 498,379 carloads and intermodal units, down 9.2% compared with the same week last year, according to the Association of American Railroads.
Total carloads for the week ending May 14 were 238,353 carloads, down 11.4% compared with the same week in 2015, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 260,026 containers and trailers, down 7.2% compared to 2015.
Four of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2015. They included miscellaneous carloads, up 11.8% to 9,646 carloads; metallic ores and metals, up 5.5% to 23,881 carloads; and nonmetallic minerals, up 4.8% to 35,702 carloads. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2015 included coal, down 30.8% to 64,800 carloads; petroleum and petroleum products, down 19% to 11,727 carloads; and grain, down 8.5% to 18,373 carloads.
For the first 19 weeks of 2016, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 4,559,020 carloads, down 14.2% from the same point last year; and 4,888,034 intermodal units, down 1.4% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 19 weeks of 2016 was 9,447,054 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 8% compared to last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending May 14, 2016, on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 319,835 carloads, down 12.4% compared with the same week last year, and 329,731 intermodal units, down 7.3% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 649,566 carloads and intermodal units, down 9.9%. North American rail volume for the first 19 weeks of 2016 was 12,390,336 carloads and intermodal units, down 7.6% compared with 2015.
Canadian railroads reported 64,651 carloads for the week, down 18.6%, and 57,876 intermodal units, down 9.6% compared with the same week in 2015. For the first 19 weeks of 2016, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 2,436,211 carloads, containers and trailers, down 7.3%.
Mexican railroads reported 16,831 carloads for the week, up 0.7% compared with the same week last year, and 11,829 intermodal units, up 1.5%. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 19 weeks of 2016 was 507,071 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 0.2% from the same point last year.