Rail Traffic for the Week Ending April 7, 2018

WASHINGTON, D.C. - For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 524,905 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.8 percent compared with the same week last year.

Total carloads for the week ending April 7 were 261,898 carloads, up 4.6 percent compared with the same week in 2017, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 263,007 containers and trailers, up 3.1 percent compared to 2017.

Five of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2017. They included coal, up 6,497 carloads, to 81,476; metallic ores and metals, up 2,427 carloads, to 23,401; and chemicals, up 2,138 carloads, to 33,694. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2017 included motor vehicles and parts, down 759 carloads, to 17,103; nonmetallic minerals, down 587 carloads, to 35,567; and miscellaneous carloads, down 331 carloads, to 9,087.

For the first 14 weeks of 2018, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 3,558,097 carloads, up 0.1 percent from the same point last year; and 3,759,388 intermodal units, up 5.3 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 14 weeks of 2018 was 7,317,485 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 2.7 percent compared to last year.

North American rail volume for the week ending April 7, 2018, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 365,482 carloads, up 4.3 percent compared with the same week last year, and 349,005 intermodal units, up 4.2 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 714,487 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.3 percent. North American rail volume for the first 14 weeks of 2018 was 9,864,299 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.5 percent compared with 2017.

Canadian railroads reported 83,042 carloads for the week, up 6.5 percent, and 69,295 intermodal units, up 10.7 percent compared with the same week in 2017. For the first 14 weeks of 2018, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 2,016,093 carloads, containers and trailers, up 3 percent.

Mexican railroads reported 20,542 carloads for the week, down 6.3 percent compared with the same week last year, and 16,703 intermodal units, down 2.9 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 14 weeks of 2018 was 530,721 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 1.9 percent from the same point last year.