North American Rail Traffic Fell 6.2% in Week Ended June 8

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic fell 6.2% last week amid a steep decline in U.S. volume, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume for the week ended June 8 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads fell 6.4%, while intermodal traffic fell 6.1%, the trade group said Wednesday.

North American rail traffic was 3.8% lower in the week ended June 1. For the first 23 weeks of the year, North American volume is now down 1.8%, compared with a year-to-date decline of 1.6% reported a week ago.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic fell 8.5% last week after a drop of 6.1% drop a week earlier. U.S. carloads tumbled 9.1% for the week, paced by a 15.9% decline in carloads of coal, the biggest of 10 commodity groups tracked. The volume of intermodal containers and trailers fell 8%.

U.S. rail traffic is now down 2.7% for the year to date, compared with a cumulative decline of 2.4% at the end of the previous week, the AAR said.

The AAR said rail traffic rose 1.3% in Canada last week, with carloads up 1.5% and intermodal units up 1%.

Rail traffic fell 3% in Mexico last week amid a 3.7% drop in intermodal units and a 2.4% decline in carloads.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 12, 2019 13:15 ET (17:15 GMT)

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