U.S. rail volumes fell 3% in September

U.S. railroads hauled 1,939,894 carloads, containers and trailers in September, a 3.1% decrease compared with volumes in September 2021, according to the Association of American Railroads.

The railroads logged 928,590 carloads and 1,011,304 intermodal units last month, down 1.1% and 4.8% respectively, compared to a year ago.

Six of the 20 carload commodity categories tracked by the AAR each month posted carload gains compared with September 2021. They included crushed stone, sand and gravel, up 11.2%; motor vehicles and parts, up 18%; and coal, up 1.8%.

Commodity categories that logged decreases included primary metal products, down 16.6%; all other carloads, down 21%; and grain, down 5%.

In September, intermodal slowed as consumers continued to change consumption trends toward services and away from goods, said AAR Senior Vice President John Gray in a press release.

"However, two underlying factors have helped magnify this trend for railroads. The first is overbuying by many retailers in late 2020 and during 2021 that is now being reflected in substantial inventories of unsold goods that weakens replacement demand," he said. "Meanwhile, a slackening of internet buying from its pandemic peak has softened trailer movements of packaged goods by rail."

Excluding coal, carloads declined 2.3% last month; excluding coal and grain, carloads fell 1.9%.

For the first nine months of 2022, U.S. railroads reported 9,019,302 carloads, up 0.1%, and 10,259,554 intermodal units, down 5.1%. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 39 weeks of the year was 19,278,856 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.7% year over year.