North American Rail Traffic Rose 0.8% in Week Ended Nov. 7

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic edged up 0.8% last week, as strong intermodal volumes once again more than offset weakness in carloads to pace a sixth straight week of gains, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume fell 7.7% for the week ended Nov. 7 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, while intermodal traffic rose 9.2%, the trade group said Wednesday.

In the week ended Oct. 31, North American rail traffic rose 2.1%. For the first 45 weeks of the year, North American traffic is now down 8.5%, compared with a year-to-date decline of 8.7% reported a week earlier.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic rose 1.3% last week, with carloads down 8.4% and the volume of intermodal containers and trailers rising 10.3%. U.S. rail traffic is now down 9.1% for the year to date, the AAR said, compared with a decline of 9.3% reported a week ago.

Canadian rail traffic rose 3% last week, as intermodal volume rose 14.1% and carloads fell 6.1%. Canadian rail traffic is down 6% for the first 45 weeks of the year.

Mexican rail traffic continued to slide last week, falling 14.3% amid a 24% plunge in intermodal units and a 5.7% drop in carloads. Mexican rail traffic is down 10.2% for the year so far, the AAR said.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 11, 2020 13:37 ET (18:37 GMT)

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