North American Rail Traffic Up This Week

North American rail volumes rose for both carload and intermodal traffic for the week ending March 2.

The U.S. and Canada showed growth while Mexico’s volume fell, according to the Association of American Railroads. This was the inverse of what happened last week, when Mexico was the only country to have increased volume.

Combined North American carload volume, including U.S., Canada, and Mexico, increased by 2.0 percent over the week before to 379,917 carloads, 1.8 percent more than it was during the same week in 2012. Intermodal volume grew 4.2 percent to 312,600 units, 10.9 percent higher than in the same week last year. Total North American carload volume for 2013 so far is 3,274,238 carloads, down 2.3 percent from the same period in 2012, and total intermodal volume is 2,696,411 trailers and containers, 7.2 percent higher than the same period in 2012.

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

For a larger version of the chart, click on the image.

U.S. carload volume increased 2.1 percent over the prior week to 283,819 carloads, up 0.2 percent compared to the same week in 2012. U.S. intermodal volume grew 4.7 percent to 249,238 trailers and containers, up 9.7 percent over its volume for the same week in 2012.

Canadian carload volume also rose in the week ending March 2. It grew by 3.5 percent to 80,495 carloads and was up 5.3 percent from the same week last year. Canadian intermodal volume increased 2.6 percent to 52,734 trailers and containers and was up 13.1 percent from the same week in 2012.

Mexican carload and intermodal volume fell during the week. Mexican carload volume dropped 5.3 percent to 15,603 carloads, but was still up 15.6 percent over the same week last year. This erased the 3.5 percent it gained the week prior. Mexican intermodal volume decreased 0.4 percent this week to 10,628 units, but was up 33.2 percent over the volume from the same week of 2012.

“Rail intermodal traffic continues to grow,” AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray said in a written statement. “In February, year-over-year intermodal volume on U.S. railroads rose for the 39^th straight week, and February saw the first double-digit year-over-year increase in two years. Shippers find intermodal appealing for a lot of reasons, including fuel savings, higher trucking costs, and service that has become much better in recent years.”