North American Rail Traffic Fell 9.2% in Week Ended Sept. 12

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic fell 9.2% last week, reversing gains from a week earlier amid a shift in timing of the Labor Day holiday in the U.S., data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume fell 12.7% for the week ended Sept. 12 on a dozen reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, while intermodal traffic fell 5.9%, the trade group said Wednesday.

In the week ended Sept. 5, North American rail traffic rose 7.6%. For the first 37 weeks of the year, North American traffic is down 10.5%.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic fell 9.9% last week, with carloads down 15.2% and the volume of intermodal containers and trailers off 5%. U.S. rail traffic is now down 11.2% for the year to date, the AAR said, compared with a decline of 11.3% reported a week ago.

Canadian rail traffic fell 5.2% last week amid a 5% decline in carloads and a 5.5% drop in intermodal units. Canadian rail traffic is down 8.1% for the first 37 weeks of the year.

Mexican rail traffic slid 15.4% for the week, as carloads fell 11.6% and intermodal units tumbled 19.1%. Mexican rail traffic is down 9.6% for the year so far, the AAR said.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 16, 2020 13:13 ET (17:13 GMT)

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