North American Rail Traffic Fell 6.4% in Week Ended March 14

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic fell 6.4% last week amid steep declines in intermodal volume linked to the coronavirus pandemic, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume for the week ended March 14 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads fell 3%, while intermodal traffic slid 9.8%, the trade group said Wednesday.

North American rail traffic was also down 6.4% in the week ended March 7. For the first 11 weeks of the year, North American traffic declined 5.3%, AAR reported.

AAR said U.S. rail traffic fell 7.6% last week, as the volume of intermodal containers and trailers tumbled 9.1%. The organization added that the intermodal sector is likely to see the earliest impacts from the coronavirus because a large amount of intermodal traffic goes to or comes from ports.

U.S. carloads fell 5.9% last week amid a 23% plunge in shipments of coal, the largest of the 10 commodity groups tracked. U.S. rail traffic is down 7% for the first 11 weeks of the year.

Canadian rail traffic slipped 2.6% last week, as a 12.8% drop in intermodal units more than offset a 6.3% rise in carloads. Canadian rail traffic is down 1.6% for the first 11 weeks of the year.

Mexican rail traffic fell 6.7% for the week, with carloads down 5% and intermodal units off 8.9%. Mexican rail traffic is up 4.2% for the first 11 weeks of the year.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 18, 2020 13:58 ET (17:58 GMT)

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