US rail transportation of petroleum and petroleum products for the week ended November 16 totaled 15,523 cars, up 21.6% from the year-ago week, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday.
Petroleum and petroleum product shipments totaled 622,015 carloads in the year to date, 33.3% above the same period of 2012, the group said in its weekly report.
US railroads saw a 2.4% year-on-year increase in total carloads originated in the week ended November 16, with intermodal volumes rising 7%, AAR said. Intermodal traffic involves movement by more than one mode of transportation, be it rail, ship or truck.
Year to date, total US rail carloads originated are down 0.5%, with intermodal volume up 4.1%, AAR said. Rail traffic is seen as a useful gauge of the health of the US economy.
In the most recent week, Canadian petroleum carloads rose 16.2% and Mexican petroleum carloads rose 5.8% from the corresponding week of 2012, AAR said.
Year to date, Canadian petroleum carloads were 14.1% higher, with Mexico carloads flat at 0%, AAR said.
