AAR reports annual U.S. carload and intermodal gains for week ending December 15

United States rail carload and intermodal volumes saw annual gains for the week ending December 15, according to data issued this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Rail carloads, at 267,534, saw a 1.4% annual gain, which edged out the week ending December 8 at 267,000 and trailed the week ending December 1 at 273,752.

AAR said that five of the 10 carload commodity groups it tracks posted annual gains, including: coal, up 3,262 carloads, to 91,218; petroleum and petroleum products, up 2,897 carloads, to 13,551; and metallic ores and metals, up 820 carloads, to 23,929. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2017 included nonmetallic minerals, down 2,078 carloads, to 30,549; grain, down 1,030 carloads, to 22,550; and motor vehicles and parts, down 340 carloads, to 17,304.

Intermodal containers and trailers headed up 6.2% compared to the same week a year ago to 301,407. This was below the week ending December 8 at 303,225 and ahead of the week ending December 1 at 293,530.

Through the first 50 weeks of 2018, AAR reported that U.S. rail carloads, at 13,153,197, are up 1.7% annually, and intermodal units, at 13,981,365, are up 5.5% annually.