North American Rail Traffic Fell 2.5% in Week Ended May 11

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic fell 2.5% last week, as a decline in U.S. volume more than offset gains in Canada and Mexico, the Association of American Railroads said.

Carload volume for the week ended May 11 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads fell 1.9%, while intermodal traffic fell 3.1%, the trade group said.

North American rail traffic was 0.6% lower in the week ended May 4. For the first 19 weeks of the year, North American volume is down 1.3%.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic fell 3.7% last week amid declines in carloads of coal and nonmetallic minerals, two of the biggest commodity groups tracked. Overall U.S. carloads fell 3.1% for the week, while the volume of intermodal containers and trailers fell 4.3%.

U.S. rail traffic is now down 2% for the year to date, the AAR said.

The group said rail traffic edged up 0.2% in Canada last week, with carloads rising 1.2% and intermodal units down 1.1%.

Rail traffic rose 4.1% in Mexico last week, paced by a 7.6% rise in intermodal units.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 16, 2019 10:33 ET (14:33 GMT)

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