Home/American Shipper/Q1 weather helped boost coal volumes for railroads American Shipper Q1 weather helped boost coal volumes for railroads FreightWaves Staff · Friday, May 16, 2014 Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Consumer demand for coal during the first quarter’s extreme cold helped ease the blow from a continued downshift in coal exports, Cowen and Company noted. Class I coal activity is up 9.3 percent so far in Q2.