U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes are up for week ending December 8, reports AAR

United States rail carload and intermodal volumes for the week ending December 8 saw annual gains, according to data issued this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Rail carloads, at 267,000, headed up 0.3% annually. This trailed the week ending December 1 at 273,752 and topped the week ending November 24 at 232,954.

AAR said that five of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an annual increase, including: petroleum and petroleum products, up 2,464 carloads, to 13,286; miscellaneous carloads, up 1,754 carloads, to 10,824; and metallic ores and metals, up 400 carloads, to 22,517. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2017 included nonmetallic minerals, down 2,271 carloads, to 31,809; coal, down 1,114 carloads, to 88,543; and grain, down 638 carloads, to 23,082.

Intermodal containers and trailers, at 303,225, saw a 5.7% annual gain, which was ahead of the weeks ending December 1 and November 24, at 293,530 and 237,897, respectively.

On a year-to-date basis through the first 49 weeks of 2018, U.S. rail carloads are up 1.7% to 12,885,663, and intermodal units are up 5.5% to 13,679,958.