AAR reports more mixed volumes for week ending May 23

Rail carload and intermodal volumes were mixed for the week ending May 23, according to data issued by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

U.S. carloads were down 9.1 percent annually at 273,387, which topped the 269,092 recorded during the week ending May 16 at 269,092 and was slightly below the 273,433 for the week ending May 9.

Of the ten commodity categories tracked by the AAR, three saw weekly gains, with miscellaneous products up 10.4 percent, motor vehicles and parts up 3.3 percent, and petroleum and petroleum products up 1.5 percent.

Intermodal volume was up 4.3 percent annually at 281,090 containers and trailers, which eked out the 280,107 recorded the week ending May 16 and was also ahead of the 277,601 recorded the week ending May 9.

On a year-to-date basis through the first 19 weeks of the year, AAR said that carloads were down 2.6 percent annually at 5,586,038, while intermodal was up 2 percent at 5,240,710 units.