The Association of American Railroads, which monitors operational performance, has stated concern with an underlying metric in bulk cargo deliveries. Specifically, a decline in coal traffic is skewing their figures. Could today’s new president and his administration change all that?
The AAR takes a holistic view of the railroad industry in the US. It closely relates railroad health to the overall economy. The US Federal Reserve says manufacturing output has been slowly falling for two and half years. However, the AAR noted that, excluding coal, US railroad bulk carloads are on an eleventh consecutive year-on-year gain, even though broader economic indicators are not as optimistic.
