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8/4/2022
U.S. railroads logged mixed traffic results in July, with carloads climbing 0.2% and containers and trailers falling 3%, according to Association of American Railroads data.
The railroads last month originated 906,903 carloads and 1,033,906 containers and trailers for a combined total of 1,940,809 units, a 1.5% decrease compared with July 2021 volumes.
Ten of the 20 carload commodity categories that AAR tracks each month posted gains compared with July 2021. They included coal, up 5,588 carloads or 2.2%; crushed stone, sand and gravel, up 5,197 carloads or 6.7%; and motor vehicles and parts, up 3,726 carloads or 8.2%.
Commodities that posted declines last month included primary metal products, down 7,065 carloads or 19.2%; all other carloads, down 3,311 carloads or 15.1%; and stone, clay and glass products, down 2,202 carloads or 6.7%.
"Rail traffic in July was evenly balanced between commodities with carload gains and those with carload declines," said AAR Senior Vice President John Gray in a press release. "As such, it does not provide definitive evidence regarding the state of the overall economy. In that respect, it is very similar to most other recent economic indicators."
Excluding coal, carloads fell 0.5% last month. Excluding coal and grain, carloads were down 0.8%.
Total U.S. carload traffic for the first seven months of 2022 was 6,900,820 units, down 0.1%, and 7,912,632 intermodal units, down 5.8%, compared with the same period in 2021.