U.S. rail volume climbed 1.8% in Week 37

U.S. freight rail volumes in the week ending Sept. 16 accounted for a combined 489,790 carloads and intermodal units, a 1.8% increase compared with the same week in 2022, according to Association of American Railroads data.

The railroads logged 232,723 carloads, up 0.2% compared with the same week in 2022, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 257,067 containers and trailers, up 3.3%. The AAR's latest  freight-rail traffic report broke this year's trend of reporting weekly traffic decreases.

Six of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR tracks every week posted increases. They included motor vehicles and parts, up 17.4%; petroleum and petroleum products, up 16.8%; and chemicals, up 3.4%.

Commodity groups that posted decreases included coal, down 4.8%; grain, down 8.8%; and nonmetallic minerals, down1.8%.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads posted 92,110 carloads for the week, down 1.2%, and 71,440 intermodal units, down 12.8% compared with the same week in 2022. Mexican railroads logged 16,285 carloads for the period, down 7.4%; and 11,018 intermodal units, down 9.8%.

For the first 37 weeks of 2023 compared with the same period in 2022:

• U.S. railroads logged 17,110,687 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.6%;

• Canadian railroads reported 5,837,742 carloads, containers and trailers, down 3.5%; and

• Mexican railroads posted 1,025,663 carloads, containers and trailers, up 3.2%.