AAR: Rail service improvements helped boost traffic in 2023

U.S. rail volume continued to climb in December, with railroads hauling 1,859,264 carloads, containers and trailers, an 8.8% increase compared with volumes in December 2022, according to Association of American Railroads data.

The railroads originated 876,881 carloads last month, up 7.3%, and 982,383 containers and trailers, up 10.2% compared with December 2022 levels. Sixteen of the 20 carload commodity categories that AAR tracks on a monthly basis posted gains. They included chemicals, up 13.1%; coal, 5.9%; and motor vehicles and parts, up 14.1%.

Commodities that posted decreases for the month included crushed stone, sand and gravel, down 4.1%; nonmetallic minerals, -9.8% and all other carloads, -3.3%.

In fourth-quarter 2023, U.S. rail carloads rose 2% and intermodal units increased 5.5% year over year. In terms of rail volume, Q4 was the best quarter in the entire year, said AAR Senior Vice President John Gray in a press release.

"It appears that intense rail efforts to improve service quality are paying off. Railroads are hopeful that gains in the fourth quarter will carry over into the first quarter of 2024 and beyond," Gray said.

For all 52 weeks of 2023, U.S. railroads logged 24,369,229 carloads and intermodal units, a 2.3% decrease year over year. Carload volume rose 0.7% to 11,701,875 units for the year, while intermodal volume dipped 4.9% to 657,165 containers and trailers.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads reported cumulative volume of 8,299,862 carloads, containers and trailers for all of 2023, a 2.4% decrease compared to 2022. Mexican railroads logged 1,436,428 carloads, containers and trailers for the year, a 2.1% increase from 2022 levels.