North American rail volumes fell nearly 2 percent in 2022

Total U.S. freight-rail traffic in 2022 fell 2.8% to 25,428,763 carloads and intermodal units compared with volume in 2021, according to Association of American Railroads data.

U.S. carloads dipped 0.3% to 11,976,283 last year, while the number of containers and trailers dropped 4.9% to 13,452,480 year over year.

"Rail markets are always evolving, and 2022 was no exception,” said AAR Senior Vice President John Gray in a press release.

Coal carloads rose "solidly" in 2022 largely because of higher natural gas prices, he said. However, those high prices — along with other market disruptors — hurt chemical volumes, since natural gas is a raw material for chemical manufacturing.

"Grain carloads in 2022 were slightly higher than the annual average over the past decade, but they were down year-over-year because 2021 was the best year for grain carloads since 2008," Gray said. "Intermodal volume in 2022 was the sixth-best ever, but down from an even stronger 2021."

Canadian railroads logged cumulative rail traffic of 7,516,426 carloads, containers and trailers in all of 2022, down 0.6%. Mexican railroads posted 1,951,851 carloads and intermodal units, a 4.4% increase.

Combined, North American freight-rail traffic fell 1.9% to 34,897,040 carloads, containers and trailers in 2022 compared with volume in 2021.

Meanwhile, for the month of December 2022, U.S. railroads originated 842,171 carloads, down 4.4%, and 900,213 containers and trailers, down 5.2%, compared with volumes in December 2021.

Four of the 20 carload commodity categories tracked monthly by AAR posted carload gains last month versus a year ago. They included motor vehicles and parts, up 12.9%; crushed stone, sand and gravel, up 3%; and food products, up 3.2%.