Econintersect: Week 26 of 2013 ending 29 June shows same week total rail traffic (from same week one year ago) declined marginally according to data released by the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Railcar count is up, and intermodal is down.
- Weekly overall data is up, and up ignoring coal and grain;
- Four week rolling average is improving, and better than the rolling average one year ago;
- 13 week rolling average is improving, and better than the rolling average one year ago;
- 52 week rolling average is unchanged, and better than the rolling average one year ago;
A summary of the data:
Five of the 10 carload commodity groups posted increases compared with the same week in 2012, led by petroleum and petroleum products, up 26.6 percent. Commodities showing a decrease compared with the same week last year included grain, down 13.8 percent.
For the first 26 weeks of 2013, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 7,217,899 carloads, down 1.5 percent from the same point last year, and 6,270,438 intermodal units, up 3.6 percent from last year. Total U.S. traffic for the first 26 weeks of 2013 was 13,488,337 carloads and intermodal units, up 0.8 percent from last year.
USA coal production is down 0.9% same week year-over-year, and coal over the last few months is becoming a neutral to positive dynamic on rail.
This Week | Carloads | Intermodal | Total |
This week Year-over-Year | 1.0% | -1.5% | -0.2% |
Ignoring coal and grain | 3.6% | ||
Year Cumulative to Date | -1.5% | 3.6% | 0.8% |
[click on graph below to enlarge]
Current Rail Chart
/images/z rail1.pn
From EIA.gov:
For the week ended June 22, 2013:
Source: AAR