Weekly Rail Traffic for the Week Ending August 8, 2020

For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 497,397 carloads and intermodal units, down 6.7 percent compared with the same week last year.

Total carloads for the week ending August 8 were 220,343 carloads, down 15.6 percent compared with the same week in 2019, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 277,054 containers and trailers, up 1.9 percent compared to 2019.

One of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2019. It was grain, up 773 carloads, to 22,081. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2019 included coal, down 18,113 carloads, to 59,328; nonmetallic minerals, down 11,269 carloads, to 30,706; and metallic ores and metals, down 6,591 carloads, to 15,754.

For the first 32 weeks of 2020, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 6,770,373 carloads, down 16.2 percent from the same point last year; and 7,764,577 intermodal units, down 8.8 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 32 weeks of 2020 was 14,534,950 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 12.4 percent compared to last year.

North American rail volume for the week ending August 8, 2020, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 310,824 carloads, down 14.4 percent compared with the same week last year, and 362,787 intermodal units, down 0 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 673,611 carloads and intermodal units, down 7.2 percent. North American rail volume for the first 32 weeks of 2020 was 20,049,320 carloads and intermodal units, down 11.5 percent compared with 2019.

Canadian railroads reported 70,663 carloads for the week, down 12.9 percent, and 69,338 intermodal units, down 2.8 percent compared with the same week in 2019. For the first 32 weeks of 2020, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 4,428,998 carloads, containers and trailers, down 8.5 percent.

Mexican railroads reported 19,818 carloads for the week, down 5.4 percent compared with the same week last year, and 16,395 intermodal units, down 15.9 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 32 weeks of 2020 was 1,085,372 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 10.8 percent from the same point last year.