North America Rail Traffic Down 3.4% in Week Ended March 23
March 27 2019 - 12:01PM
Dow Jones News
By Colin Kellaher
North American rail volume of carloads and intermodal units fell
another 3.4% last week as damage from flooding in the Midwest
continued to weigh on U.S. traffic, the Association of American
Railroads said Wednesday.
Carload volume for the week ended March 23 on 12 reporting U.S.,
Canadian and Mexican railroads fell 7.9%, while intermodal traffic
rose 1.3%, the trade group said.
North American rail traffic was 5% lower in the week ended March
16. For the first 12 weeks of the year, North American volume is
down 1.3%.
The AAR said U.S. rail traffic fell 4.5% last week as carloads
slid 10.9%, marked by sharp declines in agriculture and coal. U.S.
intermodal volume rose 2.1% last week.
Catastrophic flooding in the Midwest has caused major rail
damage in Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas and Iowa.
Union Pacific Corp. (UNP) and Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s (BRKA)
BNSF Railway, which have significant routes in those states, both
saw double-digit declines in carloads last week, the AAR said. The
railroads are making progress on repairs, according to
freight-markets data provider FreightWaves.
U.S. rail traffic is down 1.5% for the year to date, the AAR
said.
The group said rail traffic edged up 0.2% in Canada for the week
ended March 23 but fell 4% in Mexico.
Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 27, 2019 11:46 ET (15:46 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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