U.S. rail volumes tumbled in Week 15

U.S. rail traffic was off in both the carload and intermodal categories for the week ending April 16 compared with the same week in 2021, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Total carloads for the week fell 6.8% to 221,228 units, while intermodal volume dropped 9.2% to 268,573 containers and trailers, AAR officials said in a press release.

Two of the 10 carload commodity groups posted increases: Chemicals were up 849 carloads to 33,090; and coal was up two carloads to 61,550.

Commodity groups that posted decreases included grain, down 6,632 carloads to 19,602; metallic ores and metals, down 4,136 carloads to 20,638; and petroleum and petroleum products, down 2,358 carloads to 8,466.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads reported 75,273 carloads for the week, down 9.3%, and 71,623 intermodal units, down 0.03% compared with the same week in 2021. Mexican railroads reported 22,563 carloads for the week, up 2.9% compared with the same week last year, and 13,864 intermodal units, down 23%.

For the first 15 weeks of 2022 compared with 2021:
• U.S. railroads reported 7,355,182 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.9%;
• Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 2,083,303 carloads, containers and trailers, down 8.5%; and
• Mexican railroads reported 548,973 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 1.4%.