RAIL volume for the week ending November 30 on 12 reporting US, Canadian and Mexican railways totalled 305,507 carloads, down 20.3 per cent and 307,219 intermodal units, down 19.7 per cent year on year, reported the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 612,726 carloads and intermodal units, down 20 per cent. North American rail volume for the first 48 weeks of 2019 was 33,846,755 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.6 per cent compared with 2018. US railways originated 955,579 carloads in November 2019, down 7.5 per cent, or 77,166 carloads, from November 2018. US railroads also originated 1,019,766 containers and trailers in November 2019, down 7.4 per cent, or 81,138 units, from the same month last year. Combined US carload and intermodal originations in November 2019 were 1,975,345, down 7.4 per cent, or 158,304 carloads and intermodal units from November 2018. "Rail traffic continues to struggle because US manufacturing is soft, trade disputes and the uncertainty they entail are ongoing, and economic growth abroad isn't what it could be," said AAR vice president John Gray. "That said, we're confident that rail volumes will begin to grow again as the manufacturing portion of the economy finds firmer footing." Canadian railways reported 70,684 carloads for the week, down 20.2 per cent, and 68,616 intermodal units, down 3 per cent compared with the same week in 2018. For the first 48 weeks of 2019, Canadian railways reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 7,248,142 carloads, containers and trailers, down 0.3 per cent. Mexican railways reported 19,697 carloads for the week, down seven per cent compared with the same week last year, and 16,829 intermodal units, down 7.9 per cent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railways for the first 48 weeks of 2019 was 1,812,675 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 2.7 per cent from the same point last year.