U.S. rail volumes up a bit in Week 29

U.S. freight railroads moved 480,083 carloads and intermodal units during the week ending July 20, a 1.4% increase compared with the same week a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads data.

Total carloads declined 3.4% to 214,348, while containers and trailers climbed 5.8% to 265,735.

Five of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR tracks every week posted increases compared with the same week in 2023. They included grain, up 16% to 17,300; petroleum and petroleum products, up 17.4% to 10,745; and farm products excluding grain, and food, up 9.1% to 16,880.

Commodity groups that posted decreases included coal, down 9.8% to 57,906; nonmetallic minerals, down 11.1% to 30,758; and motor vehicles and parts, down 14.9% to 12,466.

Also for the week, Canadian railroads reported 86,987 carloads, a 3.3% decrease, and 68,443 intermodal units, a 0.6% decrease. Mexican railroads logged 16,272 carloads, down 15.9%, and 12,053 containers and trailers, down 7%.

For the first 29 weeks of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023:
• U.S. railroads reported 13,598,190 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.2%;
• Canadian railroads reported 4,654,977 carloads, containers and trailers, up 1.9%; and
• Mexican railroads reported 858,946 carloads, containers and trailers, up 5.5%.