Total U.S. weekly rail traffic down 10.6% ( coal down 33.5% )

Railway Age ^ | May 11, 2016 | Ben Vient

[george76]

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending May 7, 2016: Total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 492,923 carloads and intermodal units, down 10.6% compared with the same week last year.

Total carloads for the week ending May. 7 were 233,047 carloads, down 14.8% compared with the same week in 2015, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 259,876 containers and trailers, down 6.4% compared to 2015.

Three of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2015. They were miscellaneous carloads, up 6.7% to 9,839 carloads; chemicals, up 1.6% to 31,075 carloads; and grain, up 0.1% to 18,004 carloads. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2015 included coal, down 33.5% to 62,394 carloads; petroleum and petroleum products, down 26.4% to 11,394 carloads; and metallic ores and metals, down 12.8% to 20,569 carloads.

For the first 18 weeks of 2016, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 4,320,667 carloads, down 14.3% from the same point last year; and 4,628,008 intermodal units, down 1.1% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 18 weeks of 2016 was 8,948,675 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 8% compared to last year.

North American rail volume for the week ending May. 7, 2016, on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 314,690 carloads, down 14.8% compared with the same week last year,

...

The AAR also reported U.S. Class I railroads originated 63,261 carloads of crude oil in the first quarter of 2016, down 21,664 carloads or 25.5% from the fourth quarter of 2015 and down 49,828 carloads or 44.1% from the first quarter of 2015.

[11th Commandment]

And what double stink for the RR is coal is a profitable transport. Another buddy of mine was in RR pricing arbitration. He explained that coal is a strait shot from source to use, no stops... key metric for the RR

[stockpirate]

Yes 2008, but transportations says the teal drop is on the way. Trains carry raw good and finished products.

[spokeshave]

You can add energy companies Linn Energy and Penn Virginia to the list as well, they just announced Chapter 11.

I think Obama read Sir Winston Churchill's strategic plan to defeat the Nazis:

1. Destroy manufacturing industry...starting with ball bearing factories

2. Destroy coal mining, oil production and means of distribution

3. Terrorize the population (bomb the Rhur dams and fire bomb Dresden)

What Obama has done / is doing follows those instructions.

[spokeshave]

The best boost to the economy will be psychological when the mini dark age ends and Trump is sworn in.

Sorry...but you haven't seen the worst of it

A new Ice Age is expected to kick in around 2025 / 2030 time frame.

Because the Sun's magnetic field is in decline...so less Sunspots are created....last time that occurred there was a mini ice age from 1350 to 1750

We should be so lucky.