rail volumes

Year-to-date North American rail volumes continued their downward trend for the week ending August 17, according to data from the Association of American Railroads. For the first 33 weeks of the year, year-to-date North Amercan rail traffic fell 2.4 percent to 23.36 million carloads and intermodal...

The number of railcars sitting idle is climbing to multi-month highs, reflecting the downturn in freight and transportation demand. Nowhere is that more evident than in dry bulk commodities, with some markets likely facing structural shifts into permanently lower demand. Some 56,425 railcars have...

While trade uncertainty is a dominant theme in the rail demand outlook for moving grain this fall, other factors such as global market competition come into play when considering how much grain volume could be moved by U.S. rail operations in the 2019-2020 season. "The question is what feeds what...

North American year-to-date rail volumes drafted lower again for the week ending August 14, according to the Association of American Railroads.  Rail traffic slumped in the U.S. and Mexico but rose in Canada when comparing volumes to the same period in 2018. Overall North American rail traffic...

Trade concerns and shippers' lingering doubts about rail service are factors that could contribute to a continued softening of U.S. rail carload volumes in the second half of the year despite some factors indicating economic growth, a consultancy firm said last week. "The railroads haven't yet...

U.S. rail traffic slipped over 5 percent in July amid declining rail volumes for coal, grain and intermodal. U.S. rail volumes in July totaled 2.58 million carloads and intermodal units, a 5.5 percent drop from July 2018, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) said on August 7. Of those...

North American rail volumes are still lower year-over-year, but U.S. carloads recovered somewhat last week.  North American year-to-date rail volumes totaled 21.16 million carloads and intermodal units for the week ending July 27, 2.3 percent lower than the comparable period in 2018, according to...

Despite uncertain economic conditions, Trinity Industries (NYSE: TRN) expects rail volumes to improve in the second half of the year, based on "healthy" inquiry levels for its railcars, company leaders said during TRN's second quarter earnings call on July 25. Railcar "orders are lumpy, and there...

U.S. rail volumes fell yet again for the week ending July 20, according to data from the Association of American Railroads. Total U.S. rail traffic fell on both a weekly and year-to-date basis compared to the same periods in 2018. On a year-to-date basis, U.S. rail volume totaled 14.98 million...

Year-to-date U.S. rail volumes fell yet again this week, although improving economic indicators signal that rail volumes could moderate in the weeks and months ahead. For the week ending July 6, the U.S. operations of the Class I railroads originated 13.9 million carloads and intermodal units year...

U.S. rail volumes trended downward again for the week ending June 15, with weekly volumes falling over 5 percent and year-to-date volumes declining nearly 3 percent, according to the latest data from the Association of American Railroads. U.S. rail operations originated 527,989 carloads and...

U.S. rail volumes fell again for the week ended May 18, while Canadian volumes grew, according to the latest data from the Association of American Railroads. U.S. rail operations originated 536,358 carloads and intermodal units for the week ended May 18, which was a decrease of 1.8 percent from...

Year-to-date rail volumes for every commodity except petroleum and petroleum products slumped last week in the United States, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Total year-to-date U.S. rail traffic fell 1.8 percent to about 7.2 million units from the same period in 2018,...

U.S. rail volumes fell again last week as rail service issues continue to plague the post-flooding Midwestern landscape. Total U.S. rail traffic dropped 4.6 percent to 509,958 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending March 30, according to the Association of American Railroads. Of that,...