Association of American Railroads Association of American Railroads

WASHINGTON — U.S. freight rail traffic saw a 5.2-percent rise in traffic last week over the same period in 2016, the Association of American Railroads reports. The uptick in traffic was due in part to increased shipments of minerals, coal, and chemicals.



Broken down further, railroads hauled 266,402 carloads last week, up 6.2 percent compared with the same week in 2016, while railroads moved 276,777 intermodal containers and trailers, up about 4.3 percent.



For individual carload commodities, nonmetallic minerals led most groups, up 15.5 percent to 39,654 carloads, and coal, up 15.1 percent to 87,066 carloads. Chemical traffic was also up 5.7 percent to 31,288 carloads for the week. Commodities that posted decreases last week include petroleum and related products, down 12.4 percent to 9,326 carloads; motor vehicles and parts, down 8.1 percent to 17,189 carloads; and grain, down 4.6 percent to 21,677 carloads.



This year, U.S. railroads have hauled more than 6.1 million carloads, up 6.8 percent from the same period in 2016, and more than 6.3 million intermodal units, up 2.5 percent from last year. When combining both carload and intermodal traffic, U.S. rail traffic is up about 4.6 percent from 2016.