North American Rail Traffic Rose 7.6% in Week Ended Sept. 5

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic rose 7.6% last week amid a surge in intermodal volume and a smaller decline in carloads, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume fell 4.8% for the week ended Sept. 5 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, while intermodal traffic jumped 20.8%, the trade group said Wednesday.

In the week ended Aug. 29, North American rail traffic fell 7%. For the first 36 weeks of the year, North American traffic is now down 10.5%, compared with a year-to-date decline of 11% reported a week earlier.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic rose 8.6% last week, as a 24.8% jump in intermodal units more than offset a 6.9% decline in carloads. U.S. rail traffic is now down 11.3% for the year to date, the AAR said, compared with a decline of 11.8% reported a week ago.

Canadian rail traffic rose 5.6% last week amid an 11.3% rise in intermodal units and a 0.7% gain in carloads. Canadian rail traffic is down 8.2% for the first 36 weeks of the year.

Mexican rail traffic rose 1.4% for the week amid, as intermodal units rose 4% while carloads edged down 0.9%. Mexican rail traffic is down 9.5% for the year so far, the AAR said.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 09, 2020 14:28 ET (18:28 GMT)

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