North American Rail Traffic Falls 7.7% in Week Ended March 21
26 March 2020 - 5:09AM
Dow Jones News
By Colin Kellaher
North American rail traffic fell 7.7% last week, as fallout from
the coronavirus continued to weigh on volume, data from the
Association of American Railroads showed.
Carload volume for the week ended March 21 on 12 reporting U.S.,
Canadian and Mexican railroads fell 3.8%, while intermodal traffic
tumbled 11.5%, the trade group said Wednesday.
The AAR said reduced demand for vehicles and the suspension of
manufacturing operations by most automakers led to large declines
in rail carloads of autos and auto parts, while a continued
reduction in imports pulled down intermodal volume.
"It wouldn't be surprising to see rail volumes of other
categories soften in the weeks ahead as steps taken to limit the
spread of Covid-19 continue to impact producers, both here and
abroad, particularly those of consumer goods or intermediate
products from which those goods are produced," John Gray, AAR
senior vice president, said.
In the week ended March 14, North American rail traffic was down
6.4%. For the first 12 weeks of the year, North American traffic
declined 5.5%, the AAR reported.
The AAR said U.S. rail traffic fell 8.6% last week, with the
volume of intermodal containers and trailers down 11.4% and
carloads down 5.4%. U.S. rail traffic is down 7.2% for the first 12
weeks of the year.
Canadian rail traffic fell 5.7% last week, as a 14.1% drop in
intermodal units more than offset a 1.4% rise in carloads. Canadian
rail traffic is down 2.0% for the first 12 weeks of the year.
Mexican rail traffic fell 3.9% for the week, with carloads down
5.9% and intermodal units off 1.3%. Mexican rail traffic is up 3.5%
for the first 12 weeks of the year.
Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 25, 2020 13:54 ET (17:54 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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