According to the Weekly Rail Traffic Summary released by the AAR U.S. rail traffic saw a record intermodal growth in 2013, up 4.6 percent over 2012. In fact, intermodal volume in 2013 was the highest on record, exceeding the last record high set in 2006. On the other hand, carload volume was down 0.5 percent from 2012.
For the month of December 2013 U.S. carload volume was down 0.9 percent from December 2012, while intermodal volume was up 8 percent.
U.S. carload volume for the first week of 2014, week ending January 4th, carload volume was up 2.1 percent compared with the same week last year, and intermodal volume was up 4.8 percent. Total U.S. rail traffic for the week was up 3.2 percent compared to the same week in 2013.
Canadian carload volume for the week ending January 4, 2014 was down 7.4 percent compared with the same week last year, while intermodal volume was up 0.4 percent.
For the week Mexican carload volume was up 3.4 percent compared to the same week in 2013, while intermodal volume was down 12.7 percent.
The combined North American carload volume for the week ending January 4th was up 0.1 percent compared with the same week last year, and intermodal volume was up 3.5 percent.
