United States rail carload and intermodal volumes were up annually for the week ending May 12, according to data issued by the Association of American Railroads earlier this week.
Carloads headed up 5.3% to 267,196 carloads, which was ahead of the week ending May 5 at 265,653 and the week ending April 28 at 266,453.
AAR reported that seven of the ten carload commodity groups it tracks were up annually, including coal, up 7,347 carloads, to 81,523; nonmetallic minerals, up 5,714 carloads, to 42,383; and chemicals, up 1,128 carloads, to 32,431. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2017 were motor vehicles and parts, down 1,440 carloads, to 16,915; miscellaneous carloads, down 657 carloads, to 9,189; and metallic ores and metals, down 326 carloads, to 23,875.
Intermodal containers and trailers rose 6.3% to 282,833, which was ahead of the week ending May 5 at 280,374 and below the 285,045 recorded for the week ending April 28.
On a year-to-date basis through the first 19 weeks of 2018, U.S. carloads are up 1.1% annually at 4,879,984, and intermodal units are up 5.9% at 5,158,588.