Combined U.S. carload and intermodal originations rose to 2.2 million units last month, up 3.1 percent compared to October 2016, according to data from the Association of American Railroads (AAR).
October 2017 was the best month for intermodal rail traffic in history, according to newly compiled data from the Association of American Railroads (AAR).
U.S. railroads originated 1.1 million containers and trailers for the month, up 6.4 percent (68,328 units), from the same month last year, AAR said Nov. 1.
And despite U.S. carload volumes slipping 0.1 percent year-over-year to 1 million carloads last month, total U.S. shipments rose 3.1 percent (67,108 units) to 2.2 million carloads and intermodal units, AAR statistics show.
Year-over-year growth in U.S. rail carloads were held back last month by declines in carloads of grain and coal, AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray said, adding that carloads of these commodities tend to rise or fall for reasons that have little to do with the state of the economy.
Last month, 12 of the 20 carload commodity categories tracked by AAR saw gains compared with October 2016, according to the AAR. Those categories included crushed stone, sand & gravel, up 16.5 percent (15,873 carloads) from the previous year; chemicals, up 6.4 percent (7,390 carloads); and metallic ores 20.6 percent (4,076 carloads).
The handful of commodities that saw year-over-year declines in October included coal, which was down 4.9 percent (17,764 carloads); grain, which fell 11.8 percent (12,528 carloads); and motor vehicles and parts, which were off 7 percent (5,190 carloads), according to AAR data.
Excluding coal, carloads were up 2,3 percent (16,544 carloads) last month compared with October 2016, data show. Minus coal and grain, carloads were up 4.8 percent (29,072 carloads) year-over-year for the month.
Through the first 10 months of 2017, total U.S. carload traffic has grown 3.4 percent to 11.2 million carloads from the same period last year, while the intermodal shipments ticked up 3.7 percent to 11.6 million units, according to the AAR.
Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 43 weeks of 2017 stood at 22.7 million carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 3.6 percent compared to last year, the AAR said.
“Rail carloads, as well as record intermodal volume in October, support the view that the economy is doing somewhat better now than it has been in the past two years,” Gray said.