United States rail carload and intermodal volumes were again trending in opposite directions for the week ending July 25, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported this week.
Carloads headed down 2.5 percent annually to 286,660, which was ahead of the week ending July 18 at 277,331 and the week ending July 11 at 271,494.
Of the ten commodity categories tracked by the AAR, one saw annual gains compared to the same week last year, grain up 10.9 percent to 22,091 carloads. Metallic ores and metals dropped 14.9 percent to 24,609, and miscellaneous carloads were down 13.9 percent at 8,512 carloads.
Intermodal containers and trailers remained on a growth path, up 2.3 percent to 270,952, which was below the week ending July 18 at 273,850, and above the week ending July 11 at 262,603.
Through the first 29 weeks of 2015, U.S. carloads are down 4.2 percent annually at 8,017,322 and intermodal units are up 2.6 percent at 7,667,449.