North American Rail Traffic Rose 2.6% in Week Ended Oct. 17

   By Colin Kellaher 
 

North American rail traffic rose 2.6% last week for a third straight weekly increase, powered by double-digit gains in intermodal volume in the U.S. and Canada, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume fell 5% for the week ended Oct. 17 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, while intermodal traffic rose 10%, the trade group said Wednesday.

In the week ended Oct. 10, North American rail traffic rose 1.8%. For the first 42 weeks of the year, North American traffic is now down 9.2%, compared with a year-to-date decline of 9.5% reported a week earlier.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic rose 2.2% last week, with an 11.3% jump in the volume of intermodal containers and trailers, more than offsetting a 7.5% drop in carloads. U.S. rail traffic is now down 9.8% for the year to date, the AAR said, compared with a decline of 10.1% reported a week ago.

Canadian rail traffic rose 7.9% last week amid a 2.3% increase in carloads and a 14.4% surge in intermodal units. Canadian rail traffic is down 6.7% for the first 42 weeks of the year.

On a negative note, Mexican rail traffic fell 13% last week, with carloads off 3.8% and intermodal units plunging 22.6%. Mexican rail traffic is down 10.8% for the year so far, the AAR said.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 21, 2020 12:53 ET (16:53 GMT)

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