U.S. railroads report carload, intermodal declines in Week 25

U.S. railroads logged decreases in carload and intermodal volumes during the week ending June 25 compared with the same week in 2021, according to Association of American Railroads data.

For the week, the railroads hauled a total 493,374 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.4%. Total carload volume fell 3.1% to 229,857 units, while intermodal traffic tumbled 5.5% to 263,517 containers and trailers.

Four of the 10 carload commodity groups tracked by the AAR posted increases compared with the same week last year. They included chemicals, up 1,103 carloads to 32,742; farm products excluding grain, and food, up 655 carloads to 16,396; and nonmetallic minerals, up 500 carloads to 33,631.

Commodity groups that posted decreases included coal, down 4,554 carloads to 62,041; metallic ores and metals, down 1,999 carloads to 21,907; and miscellaneous carloads, down 1,885 carloads to 8,928.

Meanwhile, Canadian and Mexican railroads also hauled less volume last week. In Canada, carload volume fell 3.3% to 75,447 units, while intermodal volume dipped 1.8% to 70,496 containers and trailers. In Mexico, carload volume dropped 12.9% to 19,659 units and intermodal volume plunged 17.9% to 14,413 containers and trailers.

For the first 25 weeks of 2022 compared with the same period in 2021:
• U.S. railroads reported 12,372,358 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.5%;
• Canadian railroads reported 3,577,573 carloads, containers and trailers, down 5.5%; and
• Mexican railroads reported 922,341 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 1.4%.