North American Rail Traffic Fell 3.8% in Week Ended Feb. 8

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic fell 3.8% last week, as declines in U.S. volumes more than offset improvements in Canada and Mexico, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume for the week ended Feb. 8 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads slipped 1.3%, while intermodal traffic fell 6.3%, the trade group said Wednesday.

North American rail traffic was up 6.2% in the week ended Feb. 1. For the first six weeks of the year, North American traffic is down 3.9%, the AAR reported.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic fell 6.6% last week, as a 14.1% drop in coal, the largest of the 10 commodity groups tracked, led to a 4.2% decline in carloads. The volume of intermodal containers and trailers fell 8.8% for the week.

U.S. rail traffic is down 5.8% for the first six weeks of the year.

Canadian rail traffic rose 3.5% last week, paced by a 6.6% rise in carloads. Intermodal units edged up 0.1%. Canadian rail traffic is down 0.7% for the first six weeks of the year.

Mexican rail traffic rose 9.9% for the week on the heels of two weeks of growth exceeding 30%. Intermodal units jumped 13.8% for the week, while and carloads rose 6.7%.

Mexican rail traffic is up 12% for the first six weeks of the year.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 12, 2020 13:30 ET (18:30 GMT)

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