According to Statistics Canada, the volume of rail freight carried in Canada totaled 28.2 million tons in September, down 4.1 percent from the same month last year.
Freight originating in Canada decreased 1.6 percent to 25.5 million tons. These shipments are composed of both non-intermodal and intermodal freight.
Non-intermodal freight decreased 1.3 percent to 279,000 carloads. The amount of freight loaded into these cars declined 1.8 percent to 22.8 million tons. The drop reflects a decrease in freight loadings of coal (down 0.8 million tons), which were partially offset by increases in canola (up 0.2 million tons) and potash (up 0.1 million tons).
Intermodal freight loadings rose by 1.2 percent to 185,000 units in September. In terms of weight, intermodal traffic grew 0.3 percent to 2.7 million tons as a result of an increase in containerized cargo shipments.
Freight traffic received from the United States fell 23.1 percent to 2.6 million tons as a result of a decrease in non-intermodal shipments.