North American Rail Traffic Fell 4.9% in Week Ended July 4

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic fell 4.9% last week, marking the smallest weekly decline since February, helped by gains in U.S. intermodal volume, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume fell 12.5% for the week ended July 4 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, while intermodal traffic rose 2.9%, the trade group said Wednesday.

In the week ended June 27, North American rail traffic fell 14.3%. For the first 27 weeks of the year, North American traffic is now down 11.8%, compared with a year-to-date drop of 12% reported a week earlier.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic fell 2.4% last week, as a 12.7% drop in carloads was nearly offset by a 7.7% rise in the volume of intermodal containers and trailers. U.S. rail traffic is now down 12.8% for the year to date, the AAR said, compared with a decline of 13.2% reported a week ago.

Canadian rail traffic fell 9.7% last week amid an 11% drop in carloads and an 8.2% decline in intermodal units. Canadian rail traffic is down 8.3% for the first 27 weeks of the year.

Mexican rail traffic fell 16.1% for the week, with carloads down 15.4% and intermodal units off 17%. Mexican rail traffic is now down 10.8% for the year, the AAR said.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 08, 2020 12:56 ET (16:56 GMT)

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