North American Rail Traffic Fell 17.1% in Week Ended Feb. 20

   By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic tumbled 17.1% last week, as severe winter weather wrought havoc on railroads and put an end to a streak of six straight weekly gains to start the year, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume plunged 22.2% for the week ended Feb. 20 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, while intermodal traffic fell 11.9%, the trade group said Wednesday.

In the week ended Feb. 13, North American rail traffic rose 0.2%. For the first seven weeks of the year, North American rail traffic is up a scant 0.4%.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic fell 21.7% last week amid a 26.3% drop in carloads and a 17.4% decline in the volume of intermodal containers and trailers.

Extreme winter weather continued to force some U.S. railroads to shut down terminals last week. Union Pacific, for instance, told customers that widespread interstate and road closures were affecting its ability to transport crews, and that it was also dealing with significant power outages.

U.S. rail traffic is up 0.4% for the first seven weeks of the year.

Canadian rail traffic slipped 0.6% last week, as an 11.1% drop in carloads more than offset a 13.6% rise in intermodal units. Canadian rail traffic is up 4.6% for the first seven weeks of the year.

Mexican rail traffic fell 15.7% last week, with carloads sliding 16.5% and intermodal units down 14.8%. Mexican rail traffic is down 14.3% for the first seven weeks of the year.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 24, 2021 13:47 ET (18:47 GMT)

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