The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported that carload traffic in August totaled 1,155,957 carloads, down 4.6 percent or 56,104 carloads from August 2014. US railroads also originated 1,114,370 containers and trailers in August 2015, up 3.6 percent or 38,617 units from the same month last year. For August 2015, combined US carload and intermodal originations were 2,270,327, down 0.8 percent or 17,487 carloads and intermodal units from August 2014.
In August 2015, six of the 20 carload commodity categories tracked by the AAR each month saw carload gains compared with August 2014. This included: miscellaneous, up 28 percent or 5,870 carloads; motor vehicles and parts, up 5.1 percent or 3,460 carloads; and grain mill products, up 6.5 percent or 2,322 carloads. Commodities that saw declines in August 2015 from August 2014 included: coal, down 7.3 percent or 33,624 carloads; petroleum and petroleum products, down 13.9 percent or 9,078 carloads; and metallic ores, down 24.7 percent or 7,946 carloads.
Excluding coal, carloads were down 3 percent or 22,480 carloads in August 2015 from August 2014.
Total US carload traffic for the first eight months of 2015 was 9,462,936 carloads, down 4.3 percent or 423,230 carloads, while intermodal containers and trailers were 9,051,287 units, up 2.6 percent or 233,597 containers and trailers when compared to the same period in 2014. For the first eight months of 2015, total rail traffic volume in the United States was 18,514,223 carloads and intermodal units, down 1 percent or 189,633 carloads and intermodal units from the same point last year.
"August had essentially the same rail traffic pattern as the previous few months: a healthy increase for intermodal, a big decline for coal, continued weakness in a variety of energy-related commodities, and strength in some other carload segments," said AAR Senior Vice President Policy and Economics John T. Gray. "Railroads are a derived-demand industry, meaning that demand for rail service is a function of demand downstream for the products railroads haul. We're optimistic that the economy will continue to grow. Demand for rail service should continue to grow with it."