Econintersect: Week 12 of 2013 ending March 23 shows same week total rail traffic above 2012 levels according to data released by the Association of American Railroads (AAR):
- Four week rolling average is degrading (not normal for this time of year);
- 13 week rolling average is degrading (not normal for this time of year);
- 52 week rolling average is improving.
A summary of the data:
“Four of the 10 carload commodity groups posted increases compared with the same week in 2012, led by petroleum products, up 57 percent. Commodities showing a decrease were led by grain, down 17.3 percent.
For the first 12 weeks of 2013, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 3,289,507 carloads, down 3 percent from the same point last year, and 2,851,329 intermodal units, up 6.2 percent from last year. Total U.S. traffic for the first 12 weeks of 2013 was 6,140,836 carloads and intermodal units, up 1 percent from last year.”
USA coal production is down 3.1% same week year-over-year, and the cumulative effect on rail carloads continues to be a headwind.
| This Week | Carloads | Intermodal | Total |
| This week Year-over-Year | 0.2% | 1.4% | 0.7% |
| Ignoring coal and grain | 9.7% | ||
| Year Cumulative to Date | -3.0% | 6.2% | 1.0% |
[click on graph below to enlarge]
Current Rail Chart
/images/z rail1.pn
From EIA.gov:
For the week ended March 23, 2013:
Source: AAR
