Intermodal Rail Traffic Declines in November

U.S. rail intermodal traffic declined 1% in November compared with the same month the prior year, the Association of American Railroads reported.

Railroads moved 1.02 million intermodal trailers and containers, 10,828 fewer units than were moved last November, AAR said Dec. 2.

Rail carload volume, which excludes intermodal units, declined 10.4%, or 120,259 units, in November year-over-year to 1.04 million carloads.

“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,” John Gray, AAR senior vice president of policy and economics, said in a statement.

Six of the 20 commodity groups that AAR tracks monthly increased over last year, led by miscellaneous carloads at 32.9%.

Intermodal traffic for the week ended Nov. 28 declined 0.6% to 219,470 units, according to AAR.

Weekly rail carload volume, which excludes intermodal units, declined 15.1% year-over-year to 230,919 carloads.

Two of the 10 commodity groups AAR tracks weekly increased over last year for the week, led by the miscellaneous carloads category at 21.4%.

Year-to-date intermodal traffic increased 1.8% to 12.5 million units from the same period last year, according to AAR.

Data by Association of American Railroads