North American Rail Traffic Fell 14.2% in Week Ended July 11

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic fell 14.2% last week, a sharp reversal from a week earlier, as carloads tumbled and intermodal volume returned to negative territory, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume slid 20.4% for the week ended July 11 on a dozen reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, while intermodal traffic fell 7.8% after rising 2.9% a week earlier, the trade group said Wednesday.

In the week ended July 4, North American rail traffic fell 4.9%. For the first 28 weeks of the year, North American traffic is down 11.8%.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic fell 14.9% last week as carloads slumped 22.7%, with declines in all 10 commodity groups tracked. The volume of intermodal containers and trailers fell 7.4%.

U.S. rail traffic is now down 12.9% for the year to date, the AAR said, compared with a decline of 12.8% reported a week ago.

Canadian rail traffic fell 12.5% last week, with carloads down 16.5% and intermodal units off 8%. Canadian rail traffic is down 8.5% for the first 28 weeks of the year.

Mexican rail traffic fell 10% for the week amid 7.2% drop in carloads and a 13.3% decline in intermodal units. Mexican rail traffic is down 10.8% for the year, the AAR said.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 15, 2020 13:46 ET (17:46 GMT)

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