The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported Wednesday weekly US rail traffic, as well as volumes for November 2015 and the first 11 months of 2015.
Carload traffic in November totaled 1,041,605 carloads, down 10.4 percent or 120,259 carloads from November 2014. US railroads also originated 1,024,162 containers and trailers in November 2015, down 1 percent or 10,828 units from the same month last year. For November 2015, combined US carload and intermodal originations were 2,065,767, down 6 percent or 131,087 carloads and intermodal units from November 2014.
Carload traffic in November totaled 1,041,605 carloads, down 10.4 percent or 120,259 carloads from November 2014. US railroads also originated 1,024,162 containers and trailers in November 2015, down 1 percent or 10,828 units from the same month last year. For November 2015, combined US carload and intermodal originations were 2,065,767, down 6 percent or 131,087 carloads and intermodal units from November 2014.
In November 2015, six of the 20 carload commodity categories tracked by the AAR each month saw carload gains compared with November 2014. This included: miscellaneous carloads, up 32.9 percent or 5,515 carloads; motor vehicles and parts, up 4.7 percent or 3,142 carloads; and non-metallic minerals, up 6.9 percent or 1,143 carloads. Commodities that saw declines in November 2015 from November 2014 included: coal, down 17.6 percent or 78,798 carloads; petroleum and petroleum products, down 20.1 percent or 12,570 carloads; and metallic ores, down 31.7 percent or 10,056 carloads.
Excluding coal, carloads were down 5.8 percent or 41,461 carloads in November 2015 from November 2014.
Total US carload traffic for the first 11 months of 2015 was 13,046,761 carloads, down 5.1 percent or 699,664 carloads, while intermodal containers and trailers were 12,530,739 units, up 1.8 percent or 223,272 containers and trailers when compared to the same period in 2014. For the first eleven months of 2015, total rail traffic volume in the United States was 25,577,500 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.8 percent or 476,392 carloads and intermodal units from the same point last year.
"The decline in rail carload traffic in November 2015 was broad based, reflecting manufacturing slowdowns, energy prices and policy, and the constraint of a strong dollar. Even intermodal was down in November, largely due to reduced international traffic," said AAR Senior Vice President of Policy and Economics John T. Gray. "Railroads are well positioned to serve their customers safely and reliably, but the economy has to cooperate. We're hopeful that will happen soon."