North American Rail Traffic Fell 7% in Week Ended Feb. 22

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic fell 7% last week, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume for the week ended Feb. 22 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads fell 6.7%, while intermodal traffic slid 7.3%, the trade group said.

North American rail traffic was down 6.9% in the week ended Feb. 15. For the first eight weeks of the year, North American traffic declined 4.7%, the AAR reported.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic fell 7.6% last week, with a 26.8% plunge in coal, the largest of the 10 commodity groups tracked, driving a 9.3% decline in carloads. The volume of intermodal containers and trailers fell 6% for the week.

U.S. rail traffic is down 6.4% for the first eight weeks of the year.

Canadian rail traffic fell 6% last week, as a 14.9% drop in intermodal units more than offset a 1.9% rise in carloads. Canadian rail traffic is down 1.7% for the first eight weeks of the year.

Mexican rail traffic fell 2.9% for the week, with carloads down 6.4% and intermodal units up 1.1%. Mexican rail traffic is up 8.9% for the first eight weeks of the year.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 27, 2020 13:45 ET (18:45 GMT)

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