Houston — US coal carload originations for the week ended July 28 totaled 87,761, up 2.2% from the week prior, the Association of American Railroads said Wednesday.
Carloads fell 4.9% from the year-ago week, the largest drop in July.
Originations were also down 15.4% from the five-year average of 103,694 carloads, the largest drop since the week ended June 2.
Total carload originations from the four major Class 1 railroads totaled 96,099, a 2.9% decrease from the year-ago week.
The largest railroad of the four, BNSF, saw a 6% rise on-week with 37,156 carloads, up from an 8.1% cut the prior week. From the year-ago week, carloads from the railroad dropped 8.3%, adding to a seven-week trend of year-on-year cuts.
NS carloads rose 4.3% on the week, the only other of the four railroads to see an increase for the week ended July 28. NS originations fell 0.3% from the year-ago week.
UP and CSX carloads fell 1.4% and 3.6%, respectively.
UP continues to see cuts from the year-ago week. Only between the weeks ended March 3 and March 31 did UP carloads see a rise from the matching week in 2017.
CSX had a year-on-year increase of 18.1%, the only one of the four railroads to see a rise on-year for the most recent week.
