Econintersect: Week 38 of 2013 ending 21 September shows same week total rail traffic (from same week one year ago) improved slightly according to data released by the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Railcar count is down, and intermodal count is up. Weekly overall data is also up ignoring coal and grain.
- Four week rolling average rate of growth (compared with the average one year ago) is accelerating, and better than the 4 week rolling average one year ago;
- 13 week rolling average rate of growth (compared with the average one year ago) is accelerating, and better than the 13 week rolling average one year ago;
- 52 week rolling average rate of growth (compared with the average one year ago) is accelerating, and better than the 52 week rolling average one year ago.
This is the ninth week of improving data.
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, with 12,767 carloads or 8.0 percent. Commodities showing a decrease compared with the same week last year included grain, with 15,684 carloads, down 21.3 percent.
For the first 38 weeks of 2013, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 10,643,729 carloads, down 1.0 percent from the same point last year, and 9,277,911 intermodal units, up 3.7 percent from last year. Total U.S. traffic for the first 38 weeks of 2013 was 19,921,640 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.1 percent from last year.
USA coal production is down 0.7% same week year-over-year, and has become a neutral to positive dynamic on rail.
This Week | Carloads | Intermodal | Total |
This week Year-over-Year | -1.5% | 3.4% | 0.8% |
Ignoring coal and grain | 3.0% | ||
Year Cumulative to Date | -1.0% | 3.7% | 1.1% |
[click on graph below to enlarge]
Current Rail Chart
/images/z rail1.png
From EIA.gov:
For the week ended September 21, 2013:
Source: AAR