U.S. freight rail volume fell just a bit in Week 32

U.S. freight railroads reported carload and intermodal volumes were down only slightly — 0.3% to 502,775 units — in the week ending Aug. 13 compared with the same period last year, according to Association of American Railroads data.

Total carloads rose 1.3% to 237,851 units during the week, while intermodal volume fell 1.8% to 264,924 containers and trailers.

Four of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR tracks every week posted increases compared with the same week in 2021. They included coal, up 2,497 carloads to 69,300; grain, up 2,037 carloads to 21,408; and nonmetallic minerals, up 1,710 carloads to 34,323.

Commodity groups that posted decreases included metallic ores and metals, down 2,959 carloads to 21,743; miscellaneous carloads, down 595 carloads to 8,781; and petroleum and petroleum products, down 582 carloads to 9,732.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads posted 74,564 carloads for the week, up 2.7%, and 75,251 intermodal units, up 0.2%. Mexican railroads logged 21,490 carloads for the week, down 1.4%, and 16,158 containers and trailers, up 1%.

For the first 32 weeks of 2022 compared with the same period in 2021:

• U.S. rail volume totaled 15,812,753 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.1%;

• Canadian railroads reported 4,596,939 carloads, containers and trailers, down 3.3%; and

• Mexican railroads moved 1,198,060 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 1.2%.