U.S. carload, intermodal volumes fell in Week 45

U.S. railroads logged 490,350 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.5% for the week ending Nov. 12 compared with traffic during the same week a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads.

Total carloads fell 0.2% to 235,474 units, while intermodal volumes slumped 4.5% to 254,876 containers and trailers.

Four of the 10 carload commodity groups posted increases. They included motor vehicles and parts, up 2,142 carloads to 14,829; nonmetallic minerals, up 1,676 carloads to 32,706; and farm products excluding grain and food, up 742 carloads to 17,242.

Commodity groups that posted decreases included grain, down 1,366 carloads to 23,932; chemicals, down 1,360 carloads to 32,168; and metallic ores and metals, down 915 carloads to 19,346.

Also during the week, Canadian railroads logged 78,840 carloads, up 0.8%, and 66,417 intermodal units, down 5.4%. Mexican railroads posted 20,417 carloads for the week, down 11.1%, and 14,656 intermodal units, down 9.6%.

For the first 45 weeks of 2022 compared with the same period in 2021:

• U.S. railroads logged 22,285,808 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.5%;
• Canadian railroads reported 6,567,421 carloads, containers and trailers, down 1.8%; and
• Mexican railroads posted 1,697,208 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 3.5%.