U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes are down, for week ending June 24, reports AAR

United States rail carload and intermodal volumes, for the week ending June 17 saw annual declines, according to data issued this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Rail carloads—at 222,431—were off 0.4%, trailing the weeks ending June 17 and June 10, at 228,724, and 228,988, respectively.

AAR said that five of the 10 carload commodity groups it tracks saw annual gains, including: motor vehicles and parts, up 3,471 carloads, to 16,314; metallic ores and metals, up 1,714 carloads, to 22,482; and miscellaneous carloads, up 1,651 carloads, to 10,403.

Commodity groups posting annual declines included: grain, down 5,977 carloads, to 14,647; chemicals, down 1,544 carloads, to 29,935; and farm products excl. grain, and food, down 1,016 carloads, to 15,062.

Intermodal containers and trailers—at 247,022 units—were down 5.5% annually, with the rate of annual decreases continuing to narrow (intermodal was down 6.5%, for the week of June 17 and down 11.2%, for the week ending June 10), trailing the week ending June 17, at 248,402, and topping the week ending June 10, at 242,152.

Through the first 25 weeks of 2023, AAR said that U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 5,620,481 carloads, up 0.7% from the same point last year; and 5,862,406 intermodal units, down 10.5 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 25 weeks of 2023 was 11,482,887 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 5.4 percent compared to last year.