North American Rail Traffic Fell 6.9% in Week Ended Feb. 15

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic fell 6.9% last week, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume for the week ended Feb. 15 on a dozen reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads fell 5.9%, while intermodal traffic slid 7.9% on a year ago, the trade group said Wednesday.

North American rail traffic was down 3.8% in the week ended Feb. 8.

For the first seven weeks of the year, North American traffic declined 4.3%, the AAR reported.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic fell 8.6% last week, as a 21.4% plunge in coal, the largest of the 10 commodity groups tracked, stoked a 9.1% decline in carloads. The volume of intermodal containers and trailers fell 8% for the week.

U.S. rail traffic is down 6.2% for the first seven weeks of the year.

Canadian rail traffic fell 3.8% last week, as a 12.1% drop in intermodal units more than offset a 3.2% rise in carloads. Canadian rail traffic is off 1.1% for the first seven weeks of the year.

Mexican rail traffic rose 4.9% for the week, with intermodal units up 9.2% and carloads rising 1.3%. Mexican rail traffic is up 10.9% for the first seven weeks of the year.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 19, 2020 13:48 ET (18:48 GMT)

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