The statistical coverage of railway freight volume changes in Canada, Mexico and the United States is excellent. But after the extreme changes week over week due to the COVID-19 business impacts, maybe it is time to consider a different method.
Here is why: Weekly reports issued by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) employ a year-over-year comparison template. Most news media and investors follow this same template. For about 50 weeks this year, we have collectively been thinking of rail traffic health as a comparison to the previous year’s 2019 week.