Week 42 of 2016 shows same week total rail traffic (from same week one year ago) contracted according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) traffic data. The weekly data was better than last week.
Analyst Opinion of the Rail Data
We review this data set to understand the economy. If coal and grain are removed from the analysis, rail has recently been declining around 5% – but this week was -4.6%. This week the one year rolling average did not worsen – but it remains in contraction.
It does appear that the downward slide in the one year rolling average is in the processes of stopping its decline. But this movement is like watching snails race. Based on the current trends – rail year-over-year rate of contraction should start improving by year end.
The contraction in rail counts began over one year ago, and now rail movements are being compared against weaker 2015 data – and this is the cause periodic acceleration in the short term rolling averages. Still, rail is weak to very week compared to previous years.
This analysis is looking for clues in the rail data to show the direction of economic activity – and is not necessarily looking for clues of profitability of the railroads. The weekly data is fairly noisy, and the best way to view it is to look at the rolling averages (carloads and intermodal combined).
A summary of the data from the AAR:
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending October 22, 2016.
For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 544,092 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.7 percent compared with the same week last year.
Total carloads for the week ending October 22 were 268,551 carloads, down 5.8 percent compared with the same week in 2015, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 275,541 containers and trailers, up 2.6 percent compared to 2015.
Three of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2015. They were miscellaneous carloads, up 16.5 percent to 10,852 carloads; grain, up 4.6 percent to 26,442 carloads; and nonmetallic minerals, up 0.1 percent to 37,324 carloads. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2015 included petroleum and petroleum products, down 24.4 percent to 10,037 carloads; metallic ores and metals, down 12.3 percent to 19,115 carloads; and coal, down 10.5 percent to 90,272 carloads.
For the first 42 weeks of 2016, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 10,532,634 carloads, down 10.2 percent from the same point last year; and 10,886,011 intermodal units, down 3.1 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 42 weeks of 2016 was 21,418,645 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 6.7 percent compared to last year.
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