U.S. rail volumes fall nearly 6% in Week 34

U.S. freight railroads hauled 472,525 carloads and intermodal units in the week ending Aug. 26, a 5.9% decrease compared with the same week in 2022, according to Association of American Railroads data.

Carloads for the week totaled 226,679 units, a 3.9% decrease, while intermodal units totaled 245,846 containers and trailers, a 7.7% decrease.

Four of the 10 commodity groups that AAR tracks weekly posted increases. They were petroleum and petroleum products, up 16.1%; motor vehicles and parts, 10.3%; nonmetallic minerals, 1.5%; and metallic ores and metals, 0.6%.

Commodities that posted decreases included grain, -26.4%; coal -7.3%; and miscellaneous carloads, -9.2%.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads reported 83,877 carloads for the week, down 4.8%, and 69,342 intermodal units, down 15.8% compared with the same week in 2022. Mexican railroads logged 16,636 carloads, up 12.9%, and 12,311 intermodal units, up 15.3%.

For the first 34 weeks of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022:
• U.S. railroads reported 15,696,357 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.9%;
• Canadian railroads logged 5,357,780 carloads, containers and trailers, down 3.2%; and
• Mexican railroads posted 955,348 carloads and intermodal units, up 5.1%.