Posted on 05/12/2016 7:31:52 AM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at railwayage.com ...
This squares with a previous report (last week I think) that talked about the hundreds of rail cars that sit idle because they’re simply not needed. Right now anyway.
Feels like this economy is in a flat spin.
Don’t worry!
The economy’s doing great and unemployment is around 5%.
Don’t ask any questions unless you want a visit from DHS and the IRS.
Transportation is what is known as a leading indicator, my guess is we are headed for a drop in our economy.
Who’s got the Baghdad Bob picture?
The economy has been collapsing since 2008.
I can’t get the page to come up, but why is coal consumption down? Seems like it all goes for power generation, which has been declining somewhat but not that much...
Feels like this economy is in a flat spin.
Also the report last week about orders for heavy duty trucks was down a lot....and today about the rise in unemployment claims.
I think coal has gone down due to conversions of power plants to natural gas from coal.
....Not to mention that the Baltic Shipping Index is dropping like a stone....(also reported last week)
A lot of coal plants are being shut down in favor of natural gas.
Remember when Obama said "I'm going to bankrupt the coal and electricity companies"
Well...he did it
The largest pillar of the coal industry has now fallen. In filing for bankruptcy last week, Peabody Energy joined Arch Coal, Patriot Coal, Walter Energy and Alpha Natural Resources among the largest coal mining companies recently facing this fate.
So he can "turn over every stone"...in his mission to create jobs.
You can add energy companies Linn Energy and Penn Virginia to the list as well, they just announced Chapter 11.
Railroad companies are excellent companies to monitor for market watchers. The results are not to surprising given recent quarterly earning calls. It is good to see grain up if only slightly as well as chemicals. Oil down in expected with the decline in drilling. Coal continues to slide because of regulation and international demand. Intermodal was down which means imports are down...
My boy works on a Utah railroad and reports that coal shipments down 50%. The only thing keeping them afloat is the chemicals, and, surprisingly copper ore.
[The economy has been collapsing since 2008.]
Tell me about it. It’s a freaking disaster.
The best boost to the economy will be psychological when the mini dark age ends and Trump is sworn in.
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