Rail traffic showed more signs of positive economic growth this week as intermodal traffic rose 4.9% compared with the same week last year. Total traffic was up 3.1% and the 12 week moving average in intermodal rose to 3%. That’s the highest reading since May of this year. The AAR has some more details:
“The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported increased weekly rail traffic for the week ending September 14, 2013 with total U.S. weekly carloads of 296,221 carloads, up 1.5 percent compared with the same week last year. Intermodal volume for the week totaled 265,873 units, up 4.9 percent compared with the same week last year. Total U.S. rail traffic for the week was 562,094 combined carloads and intermodal units, up 3.1 percent compared with the same week last year.
Seven of the 10 carload commodity groups posted increases compared with the same week in 2012, led by motor vehicles and parts with 26,722, up 14.4 percent; and petroleum and petroleum products, also up 14.4 percent. Commodities showing a decrease compared with the same week last year included grain, with 17,744 carloads, down 9.8 percent.
For the first 37 weeks of 2013, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 13,355,569 carloads, down 1.0 percent from the same point last year, and 9,015,014 intermodal units, up 3.7 percent from last year. Total U.S. traffic for the first 37 weeks of 2013 was 19,370,583 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.2 percent from last year.”
Chart via Orcam Research:
Mr. Roche is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Discipline Funds.Discipline Funds is a low fee financial advisory firm with a focus on helping people be more disciplined with their finances.
He is also the author of Pragmatic Capitalism: What Every Investor Needs to Understand About Money and Finance, Understanding the Modern Monetary System and Understanding Modern Portfolio Construction.
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