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5/5/2022
U.S. freight railroads hauled 2,002,854 carloads and intermodal units last month, a 5.8% decrease compared with rail volumes in April 2021, according to Association of American Railroads data.
Railroads logged 919,703 carloads in April, down 3.4%, and 1,083,151 containers and trailers, down 7.7%.
Eight of the 20 carload commodity categories tracked by the AAR each month saw carload gains compared with April 2021. These included motor vehicles and parts, up 12%; chemicals, up 3.4%; and food products, up 6.7%.
Commodities that saw declines included grain, down 15.2%; metallic ores, down 32.5%; and petroleum and petroleum products, down 17.3%.
U.S. rail traffic last month "had something for everyone," said AAR Senior Vice President John Gray in a press release.
"Optimists can point to autos, chemicals and scrap, all of which had solid gains," Gray said. "Pessimists can point to grain, intermodal and petroleum products, which saw significant declines."
In the middle: Carloads of industrial products, an aggregation of seven key carload categories. They fell slightly in April, which was consistent with the most recent GDP numbers, Gray added.
Excluding coal, carloads decreased 4.2% in April 2022 from April 2021. Excluding coal and grain, carloads were down 2.3%.
Total U.S. traffic for the first four months of 2022 was 3,906,843 carloads, up 1.1%, and 4,453,049 containers and trailers, down 7.1%.