North American Rail Traffic Drops

For the week ending Feb. 23, North American carload and intermodal volumes dropped from the previous week because of U.S. and Canadian volume decreases, according to the Association of American Railroads.

U.S. Carload vs Intermodal Traffic
Week-to-Week Percent Change
Source: AAR

For a larger chart, click on the image.

Combined North American carload volume, including U.S., Canada, and Mexico, dropped 0.4 percent to 372,323 carloads, 0.2 percent lower that it was during the same week in 2012. North American intermodal volume fell 4.9 percent to 300,141 units, although that level is 11.3 percent higher than in the same week last year. The total North American carload volume for 2013 so far is 2,894,321 carloads, down 2.8 percent from the same period in 2012, and the total intermodal volume is 2,383,811 trailers and containers, 6.8 percent higher than the same period in 2012.

U.S. carload volume dropped 0.2 percent over the prior week to 278,059 carloads, down 1.2 percent compared to the same week in 2012. U.S. intermodal volume dropped 5.2 percent to 238,083 trailers and containers, but still was up 11.0 percent over its volume for the same week in 2012.

Canadian carload volume was also down week-to-week for the week ending Feb. 23. It dropped by 1.9 percent to 77,789 carloads but was up 1.3 percent from the same week last year. Canadian intermodal volume declined 4.7 percent to 51,389 trailers and containers but still was up 12.6 percent from the same week in 2012.

Mexican carload and intermodal volume rose during the week. Mexican carload volume grew by 3.5 percent to 16,475 carloads and was up 12.4 percent over the same week last year. Mexican intermodal volume grew 0.6 percent this week to 10,669 units and was up 12.3 percent over the volume from the same week of 2012.

The AAR no longer reports container and trailer volumes separately on a weekly basis.