U.S rail and intermodal volumes post annual gains for week ending March 11, reports AAR

United States rail carload and intermodal container volumes were up for the week ending March 11, according to data issued by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Carloads headed up 4.3 percent annually to 253,664, trailing the week ending March 4 at 262,743 and ahead of the week ending February 25 at 256,756.

Five of the ten carload commodity groups tracked by the AAR posted annual gains, including coal, up 11.9 percent to 79,646 carloads; grain, up 10.9 percent to 24,248 carloads; and nonmetallic minerals, up 10.3 percent to 35,069 carloads. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2016 included petroleum and petroleum products, down 15.6 percent to 9,344 carloads; motor vehicles and parts, down 8.5 percent to 18,390 carloads; and forest products, down 5.1 percent to 9,789 carloads.

Intermodal containers and trailers were up 4.5 percent annually at 256,974, which was below the week ending March 4 at 258,864 and the week ending February 25 at 264,965.  

On a year-to-date basis for the first 10 weeks of 2017, U.S. carloads were up 5 percent compared to the same timeframe a year ago at 2,303,356, and intermodal containers and trailers were off 0.2 percent at 2,348,371.