Rail-shipped crude oil volumes may decline as new and repurposed pipeline infrastructure comes online. But crude by rail (CBR) is not dropping just yet.

Going into the fourth quarter, the latest Association of American Railroads’ (AAR) numbers show crude and petroleum product shipments on the major, Class I railroads for the week of Oct. 5 to 11 rose 19.5% from the year-earlier week to 16,333 cars. Year-to-date CBR shipments through Oct. 11 were up 13% to a total of 622,703 carloads from 2013 volumes and averaged 15,188 carloads per week.

That was the second-largest, year-to-date increase for any commodity AAR tracks, following grain, as the railroads struggle to move a record harvest out of the Midwest. Year-over-year (yoy) U.S. grain carloadings have now risen for 12 months in a row, according to the rail trade group. Both 2013 and 2014 have been banner years for grain production.

Fifteen of the 20 commodity categories AAR monitors monthly saw yoy carload increases at the end of the third quarter. For the year, one long-term railroad mainstay—coal—edged up a scant 0.2% while all other commodities and intermodal container traffic rose by stronger margins, year-to-date. Overall Class I freight traffic was up 4.5% from 2013 in the period as the fourth quarter began.

“As has generally been the case in recent months, U.S. freight rail traffic in September was consistent with an economy that’s growing at a steady pace. We think that will probably continue for the foreseeable future,” John T. Gray, AAR senior vice president, said in reviewing numbers for the first nine months of the year.

Canadian CBR volumes also continue to rise. For the October week, Canadian railroads reported 8,113 carloads of petroleum and petroleum products, up 17.3% from the year-earlier week. Year-to-date, shipments totaled 301,691 cars, a 12.7% increase. Those numbers include the substantial U.S.-based operations of both Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railways.

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