Analyzing Genesee & Wyoming’s European Carloads in March 2017

Genesee & Wyoming’s (GWR) European carloads rose to 9.0% YoY (year-over-year) in March 2017. During that period, GWR hauled 97,000 railcars compared to 89,000 railcars last year. With the acquisition of Freightliner, GWR’s European operations assumed more significance. GWR’s other-than-coal carloads rose to 6.3% in March 2017 on a YoY basis.

GWR’s intermodal traffic rose ~5,000 carloads, or 6.3%, in March 2017. That was mainly due to higher shipments in the United Kingdom. Coal and coke volumes rose ~2,500 carloads, mainly due to increased shipments in the United Kingdom and Poland.

For Genesee & Wyoming, the term “carload” represents physical railcars and the estimated railcar equivalents of commodities for which the company is paid. Genesee & Wyoming is often compared with Class I railroads since its operations span 75.0% of the United States, parts of Canada, Australia, and some parts of Europe. Other US-based Class I rail carriers include Norfolk Southern (NSC), CSX (CSX), Kansas City Southern (KSU), and Union Pacific (UNP).

The transportation and logistics sector makes up part of the industrial sector. The ProShares Ultra S&P 500 (SSO) invests ~7.6% of its holdings in this sector. If you’re interested in comparing this week’s freight volume data with the previous week’s data, be sure to visit Market Realist’s Week 13: US Freight Rail Volumes on a Growth Trajectory.

In this series, we’ve assessed the freight rail traffic of all major railroads for the week ended April 8, 2017, or the 14th week.