North American Rail Traffic Fell 3.2% in Week Ended July 20

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic fell 3.2% last week, as U.S. railroads continue to grapple with falling volume, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume for the week ended July 20 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads fell 2.6%, while intermodal traffic slid 3.7%, the trade group said Wednesday.

North American rail traffic was 3.9% lower in the week ended July 13. For the first 29 weeks of the year, North American volume is down 2.2%.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic fell 4.9% last week after dropping 5.6% a week earlier. U.S. carloads fell 4.2% amid declines in seven of the 10 commodity groups tracked, while the volume of U.S. intermodal containers and trailers slid 5.6% for the week.

U.S. rail traffic is now down 3.4% for the year to date, compared with a cumulative decline of 3.3% at the end of the previous week, the AAR said.

Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC) earlier Wednesday said its railway operating revenue rose 1% in the second quarter despite a 4% decline in total volume, helped by a 5% increase in average revenue per unit.

The AAR said rail traffic rose 3% in Canada last week, as carloads rose 2.6% and intermodal units rose 3.4%.

Canadian National Railway Co. (CNR.T, CNI) on Tuesday reported a 9% rise in second-quarter revenue, bolstered by higher volumes primarily from petroleum crude and Canadian and U.S. grain.

Canadian rail traffic is up 2.1% for the year to date.

Rail traffic fell 2.4% in Mexico last week, the AAR said, with carloads down 3.4% and intermodal units down 1.2%.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 24, 2019 13:26 ET (17:26 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.