Intermodal Rail Volume Continues Slide with Fourth Consecutive Decline

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Data by Association of American Railroads

Weekly U.S. intermodal rail traffic declined for the fourth consecutive week from the same period last year, according to the Association of American Railroads.

Intermodal traffic for the week ended Nov. 14 declined 0.3% to 270,793 units compared with the same week last year, AAR said Nov. 19 in its weekly report. The dip follows a 1.6% decline the prior week.

Rail carload volume for the week, which excludes intermodal units, dropped 8.7% year-over-year to 270,793 carloads.

Three of the 10 commodity groups AAR tracks increased for the week from the same time last year, led by miscellaneous carloads at 19.8%.

Total North American intermodal volume increased 0.9% to 343,868 units for the week. Canadian railroads moved 59,639 intermodal units, a 6.1% increase. Railroads in Mexico moved 11,341 intermodal containers, a 4.1% rise, according to AAR.

For the first 45 weeks of the year, U.S. intermodal traffic increased 1.9% to 12 million units from the same period in 2014.