United States rail carload and intermodal volumes, for the week ending April 16, saw annual declines, according to data issued earlier this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).
Rail carloads—at 221,228—were down 6.8% annually, trailing the weeks ending April 9 and April 2, at 236,459 and 231,963, respectively.
AAR reported that six of the 10 carload commodity groups it tracks saw annual gains, including: chemicals, up 849 carloads, to 33,090; and coal, up 2 carloads, to 61,550. Commodity groups posting annual gains included: grain, down 6,632 carloads, to 19,602; metallic ores and metals, down 4,136 carloads, to 20,638; and petroleum and petroleum products, down 2,358 carloads, to 8,466.
Intermodal containers and trailers—at 268,573—fell 9.2% annually, trailing the weeks ending April 9 and April 2, at 271,884 and 270,231, respectively.
Through the first 15 weeks of 2022, U.S. rail carloads—at 3,444,827—are up 1.9% compared to the same period a year ago. And intermodal units—at 3,910,355—are down 6.8%.
North American rail volume for the week ending April 16, 2022, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 319,064 carloads, down 6.8 percent compared with the same week last year, and 354,060 intermodal units, down 8.1 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 673,124 carloads and intermodal units, down 7.5 percent. North American rail volume for the first 15 weeks of 2022 was 9,987,458 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.9 percent compared with 2021.