According to Statistics Canada, the volume of rail freight carried in Canada totaled 27.7 million mt in May, an 8.2 percent decrease from the same month last year. In contrast, from May 2011 to May 2016, the total volume of rail freight carried in Canada increased 5.4 percent.
In May, freight originating in Canada declined 7.7 percent from the same month last year to 24.9 million mt. These shipments were composed of both non-intermodal and intermodal freight.
Non-intermodal freight dropped 7.1 percent to 271,000 carloads in May. The amount of freight loaded into these cars totaled 22.1 million mt, down 8.1 percent from the same month last year. The decrease mainly reflected lower loadings of wheat, potash, iron ore and concentrates, and fuel oils and crude petroleum. The tonnage of coal, potash, and fuel oils and crude petroleum shipped by rail has fallen year over year for seven consecutive months.
Intermodal freight loadings were down 4.3 percent year over year to 187,000 units. In terms of weight, intermodal traffic fell 4.1 percent to 2.8 million mt, as a result of a decrease in shipments in containers and trailers on flat cars.