October carload and intermodal volumes see annual declines, reports AAR

In an about face from a year ago, both rail carload and intermodal volumes were down annually in October, according to data issued this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

October carloads—at 1,124,470—were down 6.9 percent—or 83,578 carloads— annually. Of the 20 carload commodities tracked by the AAR, five saw annual gains in October, with grain up 12 percent or 11,366 carloads, and miscellaneous carloads up 27.3 percent or 5,293 carloads. Coal dropped 13.3 percent or 59,791 carloads, and petroleum and petroleum products were off 18.6 percent or 12,209 carloads.

On a year-to-date basis, U.S. carload traffic through October—at 12,005,156—is down 4.6 percent annually or 579,405 carloads.

Intermodal containers and trailers—at 1,089,310—dropped 1.4 percent or 15,769 carloads compared to October 2014. And year-to-date through October intermodal is up 2.1 percent or 234,1000 containers and trailers annually.

“The decline in rail traffic in October is consistent with the view that a divide has opened up between the service sector, which appears to be fairly robust in many respects, and manufacturing, which appears to be facing increasingly strong headwinds, including international turmoil and slowdowns in the energy sector,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray in a statement.

For the week ending October 31, U.S. rail carloads were down 8.5 percent annually at 279,327, and intermodal was down 3.4 percent at 270,380.