U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes see January declines, reports AAR

United States rail carload and intermodal volumes, for the month of January, saw annual declines, according to data issued this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Rail carloads—at 902,265—were off 3%, or 27,861 carloads, annually. When excluding coal, carloads were down 41,457 carloads, or 6%, annually.  And when excluding coal and grain, carloads were down 26,061 carloads, or 4.5%.

AAR said that six of the 20 carload commodity categories it tracks saw annual gains, including: coal, up 13,596 carloads or 5.6%; crushed stone, sand & gravel, up 4,384 carloads or 7.2%; and chemicals, up 1,099 carloads or 0.8%. Commodities that saw declines in January 2022 from January 2021 included: grain, down 15,396 carloads or 14%; motor vehicles & parts, down 11,559 carloads or 19.8%; and petroleum & petroleum products, down 9,509 carloads or 20.1%.

Intermodal containers and trailers—at 1,001,443—dropped 14.6%, or 171,796 units, annually.

“For most traffic categories, U.S. rail volumes this January were down compared to last year,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray in a statement. “That said, last January made for very difficult comparisons for a number of categories. For example, January 2021 was the best January for grain since 1990, and was also, at the time, the highest volume month ever for intermodal. Conversely, and more optimistically, this year’s January was the highest volume month ever for rail carloads of chemicals, providing a strong base for future growth in a critical commodity.” 

For the week ending January 29, U.S. rail carloads—at 235,203—headed up 1.5%, and intermodal units—at 256,665—fell 11.3%.