Mark Szakonyi, Associate Editor | Apr 19, 2012 4:26PM EDT
U.S. intermodal rail shipments in the week ending April 14 rose 1.6 percent year-over-year and 1.3 percent from the previous week, according to the Association of American Railroads.
Carload traffic fell 6.4 percent year-over-year and 2.1 percent from the week prior. Coal volume plunged 18.2 percent year-over-year, grain traffic dropped 16.3 percent and farm products, excluding grain, plummeted 28.1 percent in the same period.
Double-digit volume increases in shipments of metallic ores, primary wood products, petroleum products, metal and products, and motor vehicles and equipment helped offset the declines. For the first 15 weeks of 2012, intermodal traffic rose 2.4 percent from the same period a year ago, and carload volume dropped 3.1 percent in the same period.
Canadian intermodal volume in the week ending April 14 grew 13.8 percent year-over-year, and carload volume rose 4.8 percent in the same period. So far this year, Canadian intermodal volume is up 7 percent year-over-year, and carload traffic has increased 4.8 percent.
Mexican intermodal volume last week skyrocketed 25.2 percent year-over-year, while carload traffic fell 14.9 percent in the same period. In the first 15 weeks of 2012, intermodal traffic rose 21.5 percent from the same period in 2011, and carload volume dropped 7.1 percent in the same period.
Contact Mark Szakonyi at mszakonyi@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @szakonyi_joc.