Rail Traffic for the Week Ending October 17, 2020

For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 518,763 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.2 percent compared with the same week last year.

Total carloads for the week ending October 17 were 226,828 carloads, down 7.5 percent compared with the same week in 2019, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 291,935 containers and trailers, up 11.3 percent compared to 2019.

Four of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2019. They included grain, up 4,920 carloads, to 25,547; miscellaneous carloads, up 1,223 carloads, to 10,411; and motor vehicles and parts, up 884 carloads, to 15,636. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2019 included coal, down 15,084 carloads, to 59,979; nonmetallic minerals, down 4,932 carloads, to 31,058; and petroleum and petroleum products, down 2,429 carloads, to 10,293.

For the first 42 weeks of 2020, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 9,025,595 carloads, down 14.9 percent from the same point last year; and 10,615,783 intermodal units, down 5.1 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 42 weeks of 2020 was 19,641,378 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 9.8 percent compared to last year.

North American rail volume for the week ending October 17, 2020, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 326,552 carloads, down 5 percent compared with the same week last year, and 385,001 intermodal units, up 10 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 711,553 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.6 percent. North American rail volume for the first 42 weeks of 2020 was 27,032,285 carloads and intermodal units, down 9.2 percent compared with 2019.

Canadian railroads reported 80,201 carloads for the week, up 2.3 percent, and 78,094 intermodal units, up 14.4 percent compared with the same week in 2019. For the first 42 weeks of 2020, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 5,949,096 carloads, containers and trailers, down 6.7 percent.

Mexican railroads reported 19,523 carloads for the week, down 3.8 percent compared with the same week last year, and 14,972 intermodal units, down 22.6 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 42 weeks of 2020 was 1,441,811 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 10.8 percent from the same point last year.