U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes are down for the week ending March 9, reports AAR

United States rail carload and intermodal volumes saw annual declines, for the week ending March 9, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Rail carloads, at 238,104, fell 7% annually, trailing the weeks ending March 2 and February 23 at 250,522 and 256,594, respectively.

AAR said that one of the ten carload commodity groups it tracks, petroleum and petroleum products, posted an annual gain, rising 1,179 carloads to 10,658. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2018 included coal, down 7,238 carloads, to 76,562; grain, down 3,716 carloads, to 19,219; and nonmetallic minerals, down 3,116 carloads, to 30,217.

Intermodal containers and trailers, at 270,854, fell 2.6% annually, trailing the week ending March 2 at 277,631 and topping the week ending February 23 at 265,676.

Through the first ten weeks of 2018 U.S. rail carloads, at 2,476,569, are down 1% annually, and intermodal units, at 2,681,521, are off 0.4%.