Econintersect: Week 28 of 2013 ending 13 July shows same week total rail traffic (from same week one year ago) declined according to data released by the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Railcar count is down, but intermodal count is up.
- Weekly overall data is down, but up marginally ignoring coal and grain;
- Four week rolling average is declining (seasonally normal), but better than the rolling average one year ago;
- 13 week rolling average is declining (seasonally normal), but better than the rolling average one year ago;
- 52 week rolling average is declining, but better than the rolling average one year ago;
A summary of the data:
Six of the 10 carload commodity groups posted increases compared with the same week in 2012, led by petroleum and petroleum products, up 19.7 percent. Commodities showing a decrease compared with the same week last year included motor vehicles and parts, down 19.3 percent, and grain, down 10.9 percent.
For the first 28 weeks of 2013, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 7,742,393 carloads, down 1.4 percent from the same point last year, and 6,724,236 intermodal units, up 3.5 percent from last year. Total U.S. traffic for the first 28 weeks of 2013 was 14,466,629 carloads and intermodal units, up 0.8 percent from last year.
USA coal production is down 2.5% 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 | -3.1% | 0.9% | -1.3% |
| Ignoring coal and grain | 1.8% | ||
| Year Cumulative to Date | -1.4% | 3.5% | 0.8% |
[click on graph below to enlarge]
Current Rail Chart
/images/z rail1.png
From EIA.gov:
For the week ended July 13, 2013:
Source: AAR
