Rail Week Ending 21 November 2015: Contraction Continues To Grow

Week 46 of 2015 shows same week total rail traffic (from same week one year ago) declined according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) traffic data. Intermodal traffic contracted year-over-year, which accounts for approximately half of movements and weekly railcar counts continued in contraction. The 52 week rolling average contraction is continuing to grow.

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).

  Percent current rolling average is larger than the rolling average of one year ago Current quantities accelerating or decelerating Current rolling average accelerating or decelerating compared to the rolling average one year ago 4 week rolling average -6.2 % decelerating decelerating 13 week rolling average -3.3 % decelerating decelerating 52 week rolling average -0.4 % decelerating decelerating

A summary of the data from the AAR:

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Nov. 21, 2015.

For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 532,532 carloads and intermodal units, down 5.7 percent compared with the same week last year.

Total carloads for the week ending Nov. 21 were 267,830 carloads, down 9.4 percent compared with the same week in 2014, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 264,702 containers and trailers, down 1.7 percent compared to 2014.

Four of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2014. They included miscellaneous carloads, up 12.3 percent to 9,597 carloads; motor vehicles and parts, up 5.9 percent to 19,105 carloads; and nonmetallic minerals, up 2.1 percent to 35,420 carloads. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2014 included petroleum and petroleum products, down 25.8 percent to 11,894 carloads; metallic ores and metals, down 22.7 percent to 19,782 carloads; and coal, down 16.8 percent to 92,998 carloads.

For the first 46 weeks of 2015, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 12,815,842 carloads, down 4.9 percent from the same point last year; and 12,311,269 intermodal units, up 1.9 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 46 weeks of 2015 was 25,127,111 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 1.7 percent compared to last year.