AAR reports another mixed week of U.S. carload and intermodal volumes

Mixed rail carload and intermodal volumes remained intact for the week ending June 20, according to data issued by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

U.S. carloads saw a 6.1 percent annual decline at 273,932, which outpaced the weeks ending June 13 and June 6 at 271,098 and 268,722, respectively.

Of the ten commodity categories tracked by the AAR, four saw annual gains compared to the same week last year, with miscellaneous products up 15.7 percent, grain up 3.4 percent, and motor vehicles and parts up 1.9 percent. Coal dropped 13.7 percent, with metallic ores and metals down 8.1 percent.

Intermodal continued its lengthy stretch of weekly gains while at a lower rate of growth than seen in recent weeks, up 1.6 percent annually at 276,907 containers and trailers. This most recent weekly tally was below the previous two weeks, with the week ending June 13 at 283,363, and the week ending June 6 at 281,315.

On a year-to-date basis, U.S. carloads are down 3.6 percent at 6,658,163, and intermodal units are up 2.2 percent at 6.329,465.