Rail traffic for the week ending February 22, 2020

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending February 22, 2020.

For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 482,690 carloads and intermodal units, down 7.6 percent compared with the same week last year.
Total carloads for the week ending February 22 were 232,869 carloads, down 9.3 percent compared with the same week in 2019, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 249,821 containers and trailers, down 6 percent compared to 2019.
Four of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2019. They included chemicals, up 2,366 carloads, to 33,284; petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,217 carloads, to 13,401; and motor vehicles and parts, up 1,193 carloads, to 17,898. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2019 included coal, down 23,225 carloads, to 63,540; grain, down 2,785 carloads, to 18,909; and nonmetallic minerals, down 1,628 carloads, to 29,854.
For the first eight weeks of 2020, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 1,858,165 carloads, down 6.5 percent from the same point last year; and 1,999,804 intermodal units, down 6.2 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first eight weeks of 2020 was 3,857,969 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 6.4 percent compared to last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending February 22, 2020, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 329,343 carloads, down 6.7 percent compared with the same week last year, and 324,723 intermodal units, down 7.3 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 654,066 carloads and intermodal units, down 7 percent. North American rail volume for the first eight weeks of 2020 was 5,278,276 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.7 percent compared with 2019.
Canadian railroads reported 76,331 carloads for the week, up 1.9 percent, and 56,299 intermodal units, down 14.9 percent compared with the same week in 2019. For the first eight weeks of 2020, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 1,121,322 carloads, containers and trailers, down 1.7 percent.
Mexican railroads reported 20,143 carloads for the week, down 6.4 percent compared with the same week last year, and 18,603 intermodal units, up 1.1 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first eight weeks of 2020 was 298,985 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 8.9 percent from the same point last year.