North American Rail Traffic Fell 4.8% in Week Ended Aug. 24

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic fell 4.8% last week, with the U.S., Canada and Mexico all registering declines, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume for the week ended Aug. 24 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads fell 4.2%, while intermodal traffic slid 5.4%, the trade group said Wednesday.

North American rail traffic was 3.8% lower in the week ended Aug. 17. For the first 34 weeks of the year, North American volume is now down 2.5%, compared with a year-to-date decline of 2.4% reported a week earlier.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic tumbled 5.9% last week after falling 5.2% a week earlier. U.S. carloads fell 5.3%, paced by double-digit declines in shipments of coal, forest products, and metallic ores and metals.

The volume of U.S. intermodal containers and trailers fell 6.5% for the week.

U.S. rail traffic is now down 3.6% for the year to date, the AAR said, compared with a year-to-date decline of 3.5% reported a week ago.

The AAR said rail traffic fell 0.8% in Canada last week, as a 2.1% drop in carloads more than offset a 0.9% rise in intermodal units.

Rail traffic slid 5.7% in Mexico last week, the AAR said, with intermodal units plummeting 13.2%. Carloads rose 1.4% for the week.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 28, 2019 12:35 ET (16:35 GMT)

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