North American Rail Traffic Fell 2.7% in Week Ended Aug. 10

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic fell 2.7% last week, as further declines in the U.S. more than offset gains in Canada and Mexico, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume for the week ended Aug. 10 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads fell 2.5%, while intermodal traffic fell 2.9%, the trade group said.

North American rail traffic was 4.3% lower in the week ended Aug. 3. For the first 32 weeks of the year, North American volume is down 2.3%.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic fell 4.3% last week after sliding 5.2% a week earlier. U.S. carloads fell 3.9% amid a 14.7% drop in shipments of coal, the largest of 10 commodity group tracked. The volume of U.S. intermodal containers and trailers fell 4.6% for the week.

U.S. rail traffic is down 3.5% for the year to date, the AAR said.

The AAR said rail traffic rose 2.5% in Canada last week, with carloads up 1.5% and intermodal units rising 3.6%.

Rail traffic edged up 0.2% in Mexico last week, the AAR said, as a 1.6% rise in carloads more than offset a 1.2% drop in intermodal units.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 15, 2019 06:37 ET (10:37 GMT)

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