North American Rail Traffic Fell 3.4% in Week Ended Oct. 23

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic fell 3.4% last week as railroads continue to grapple with supply-chain issues, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume rose 2.4% for the week ended Oct. 23 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, while intermodal traffic fell 8.3%, the trade group said Wednesday.

The chief executives of CSX Corp. and Union Pacific Corp. last week said a lack of truck drivers, equipment and warehouse workers are causing congestion in their yards, forcing them to turn down some business during a time of high demand for shipping companies.

In the week ended Oct. 16, North American rail traffic fell 5.1%. For the first 42 weeks of the year, North American rail traffic is up 6.9%, compared with a year-to-date gain of 7.2% reported a week earlier.

The AAR said U.S. traffic fell 2.3% last week, with an 8% drop in the volume of intermodal containers and trailers more than offsetting a 5.1% rise in carloads. U.S. rail traffic is up 8% for the first 42 weeks of the year.

Canadian rail traffic fell 6.5% last week amid a, 11.1% slide in intermodal units and a 2% decline in carloads. Canadian rail traffic is up 4.1% for the first 42 weeks of the year.

Mexican rail traffic fell 6.4% last week, with carloads down 10.2% and intermodal units off 1.3%. Mexican rail traffic is up 3.6% for the year to date, the AAR said.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 27, 2021 16:39 ET (20:39 GMT)

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