Make it three weeks in a row, and the fourth week in the last five, that U.S. freight carload traffic increased when measured against the comparable week in 2012, according to data from the Association of American Railroads released Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013.
AAR said U.S. freight carload traffic for the week ending Sept. 14, 2013 rose 1.5% compared with a year ago. U.S. intermodal volume also rose a robust 4.9%T, with total U.S. rail traffic for the week up 3.1% compared with the same week in 2013.
Seven of the 10 carload commodity groups AAR tracks posted increases compared with the same week in 2012, led by motor vehicles and parts, up 14.4%, and petroleum and petroleum products, also up 14.4%. Commodities losing ground included grain, down 9.8%.
Canadian freight carload volume for the week sending Sept. 14 also did well, up 4.9% compared with one year ago. Canadian intermodal volume advanced 5.1%. Mexican freight carload volume for the week rose 6.3%, while Mexican intermodal volume completed the plus-column sweep, up 7.5%.
Combined North American freight carload volume for the 37 weeks of 2013 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads remained just shy of breakeven, down 0.1% compared with the same point last year. Combined North American intermodal, by contrast, was up 3.7%.