U.S. carload and intermodal volumes see annual declines for week ending July 6

United States freight rail carload and intermodal volumes saw another week of declines, for the week ending July 6, according to data issued by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) this week.

Rail carloads, at 220,759, were off 8.2% annually and were likely impacted by the timing of the July 4 holiday. This trailed both the weeks ending June 29 and June 22, at 261,415 and 257,836, respectively.

AAR said that three of the ten carload commodity groups it tracks saw annual gains, including: grain, up 2,358 carloads, to 23,651; petroleum and petroleum products, up 2,083 carloads, to 12,347; and miscellaneous carloads, up 517 carloads, to 8,520. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2018 included coal, down 16,575 carloads, to 59,905; nonmetallic minerals, down 3,593 carloads, to 31,655; and metallic ores and metals, down 1,510 carloads, to 20,578.

Intermodal containers and trailers, at 227,700, saw a 6.9% annual decline, with this tally trailing the weeks ending June 29 and June 22, at 271,149 and 267,280, respectively.

Through the first 27 weeks of 2019, U.S. carloads, at 6,772,977, are down 3.1% annually, and intermodal units, at 7,151,961, are off 3.3% for the same period.