Coal on the rise: AAR

Railway Age reports:

In reporting U.S. rail traffic volumes for the week ending Feb. 25, 2017 and the month of February 2017, the Association of American Railroads noted that coal rose 14% and 19.2%, respectively.

“The 19.2% increase in coal carloads in February 2017 was the highest percentage gain for coal since sometime before 1988, when our current record series began,” said AAR Senior Vice President of Policy and Economics John T. Gray. ”While it's an impressive gain, February 2017 was, unfortunately, also the second worst February in absolute terms for coal since sometime before 1988. It's all too representative of the challenges railroads are facing as their markets change. However, these same market changes are offering new opportunities. Over the past 15 years, the industry has worked hard to create a solid foundation to exploit these opportunities.”

Carload traffic in February totaled 1,044,040 carloads, up 6.7% or 65,141 carloads from February 2016. U.S. railroads also originated 1,068,439 containers and trailers in February 2017, up 1.8% or 19,350 units from the same month last year. For February 2017, combined U.S. carload and intermodal originations were 2,112,479, up 4.2% or 84,491 carloads and intermodal units from February 2016.

Coal rising...... under The Donald.