The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported this week that United States rail carload and intermodal volumes each saw annual declines for the week ending April 6.
Rail carloads, at 251,417, fell 3.9% and were ahead of the weeks ending March 30 and March 23 at 241,906 and 236,817, respectively.
AAR said that three of the 10 carload commodity groups it tracks saw annual gains, including: petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,711 carloads, to 11,610; nonmetallic minerals, up 493 carloads, to 36,059; and motor vehicles and parts, up 434 carloads, to 17,557. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2018 included coal, down 6,417 carloads, to 75,048; grain, down 3,525 carloads, to 21,815; and chemicals, down 1,347 carloads, to 32,358.
Intermodal containers and trailers, at 258,775 units, decreased 1.6% and trailed the weeks ending March 30 and March 23 at 268,052 and 266,200, respectively.
On a year-to-date basis through the first 14 weeks of 2019, AAR reported that U.S. rail carloads-at 3,447,026-are off 3.1% annually, and intermodal units-at 3,735,232-are off 0.6% for the same period.