U.S. rail intermodal traffic increased 3.7% in the week ended Oct. 4 compared with the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads reported.
Railroads moved 276,682 intermodal trailers and containers, AAR said Oct. 9 in its weekly report.
Rail carload volume, which excludes intermodal units, increased 7.4% year-over-year to 299,674 carloads.
Year to date, intermodal volume for all of North America increased 5.7% to 13 million trailers and containers.
For the first 40 weeks, intermodal volume has increased 5.5% from the same period last year, to 10.35 million units.
All 10 of the commodity groups AAR tracks increased over last year, led by petroleum and petroleum products at 26.9%.
Canada’s oil producers are gaining increasing access to rail and barge operations that have allowed for exports to the United States in the absence of pipeline space, Mike Tran, an analyst at CIBC World Markets Inc. in New York, told Bloomberg News.
As the planned Keystone oil pipeline from Canada to the United States stalls on politics, producers have begun to deploy alternatives to get Alberta oil to market, moving 160,000 barrels a day to the United States by rail, Bloomberg reported.
Canadian intermodal rail volume declined 2.6% to 57,996 units from the same time in 2013, but total carloads rose 0.4% to 87,873, according to AAR.
In Mexico, intermodal volume increased 10.8% year-over-year to 12,663. Total rail carload volume jumped 22.8% to 17,955, the rail association reported.
