February U.S. Rail Traffic up 5.7 Percent

February U.S. railroad freight traffic posted a 5.7 percent gain, the Association of American Railroads said this week.

The combined U.S. carload and intermodal originations for the month were 1,945,646 units, a gain of 104,819 carloads and intermodal units when compared with February 2021.

Carloads for the month were 915,329, a gain of 11 percent or 90,525 carloads over February 2020.

Intermodal traffic was 1,030,317 containers and trailers, which was a 1.4 percent or 14,294 increase.

AAR said 15 of the 20 carload commodity categories it tracks posted gains compared with February 2020.

These included: coal, up 47,238 carloads or 21.3 percent; chemicals, up 19,397 carloads or 16.4 percent; and crushed stone, sand and gravel, up 17,918 carloads or 36.3 percent.

Losing ground were motor vehicles and parts, down 6,358 carloads or 11.4 percent; petroleum and petroleum products, down 3,191 carloads or 8 percent; and all other carloads, down 2,162 carloads or 9.3 percent.

“U.S. rail traffic had big year-over-year gains in February largely because severe winter storms held volumes back last February,” AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray said in a statement..

“That said, there were pockets of real strength last month,” Gray said.

“For example, carloads of chemicals set a new monthly record last month, carloads of coal were the highest in five months and carloads of lumber were the most in eight months.”

Excluding coal, carloads were up 43,287 carloads, or 7.2 percent, in February 2022 compared with February 2021.

Excluding coal and grain, carloads were up 39,619 carloads, or 7.7 percent.

Total U.S. carload traffic for the first two months of 2022 were 1,817,594 carloads, an increase of 3.6 percent, or 62,664 carloads when compared with the same time period in 2020.

The 2,031,760 intermodal units was a drop of 7.2 percent, or 157,502 containers and trailers. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first eight weeks of 2022 was 3,849,354 carloads and intermodal units, falling 2.4 percent from the previous-year period.

Rail Freight Down 4.09% Last Week

U.S. rail freight for the week ending Nov. 20 was down 4.09 percent with intermodal volume being the primary culprit for the falloff.

Class 1 railroads handled 508,309 carloads and intermodal units for the week. The percentage decline is in comparison with volume handled in the same week of 2020.

Carload traffic was 237,244 carloads an increase of 1.6 percent but intermodal traffic was down 10 percent to 271,065 intermodal containers and trailers.

The Association of American Railroads said six of the 10 carload commodity groups that it tracks saw gains last week.

This included metallic ores and metals, up 1,838 carloads, to 21,524; coal, up 1,780 carloads, to 64,719; and chemicals, up 1,437 carloads, to 34,174.

Losing ground were miscellaneous carloads, down 1,009 carloads, to 9,064; motor vehicles and parts, down 887 carloads, to 14,690; and grain, down 710 carloads, to 24,494.

To date railroads have handled a cumulative volume of 10,665,348 carloads, an increase of 7.1 percent compared with the same period in 2020. They have handled 12,695,960 intermodal units, a gain of 6.7 percent.

Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 46 weeks of 2021 was 23,361,308 carloads and intermodal units, a 6.9 percent gain over last year.

Freight Volume Down 4.7% Last Week

U.S. freight traffic for the week ending Nov. 13 was down 4.7 percent compared to the same week in 2020. Lagging intermodal volume continued to drag down overall traffic.

The Association of American Railroads said railroads moved 502,613 carloads and intermodal units.

Carload volume of 235,867 was up 1.7 percent, while intermodal traffic of 266,746 containers and trailers was down 9.7 percent.

Six of the 10 carload commodity groups tracked by the AAR saw gains including coal, up 6,917 carloads, to 67,225; nonmetallic minerals, up 1,913 carloads, to 30,983; and chemicals, up 1,555 carloads, to 33,513.

Declines were seen by grain, down 3,772 carloads, to 25,336; motor vehicles and parts, down 2,800 carloads, to 12,690; and miscellaneous carloads, down 729 carloads, to 9,414.

For the first 45 weeks of this year, the cumulative freight volume has been 10,428,104 carloads, up 7.2 percent from the same point last year; and 12,424,895 intermodal units, up 7.2 percent. Total combined traffic has been 22,852,999 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 7.2 percent compared with this point in 2020.

Carload Up, Intermodal Down Last Week

U.S. Railroads posted a 3.5 percent gain in carload traffic for the week ending Sept. 18.

The Association of American Railroads said Class 1 railroads handled 234,790 carloads.

Intermodal traffic did not fare as well falling 8.3 percent at 270,832 containers and trailers.

The comparisons are to the same week in 2020 and marked the seventh consecutive week of intermodal losses. 

Total rail traffic was 505,622 carloads and intermodal units, a decline of 3.1 percent when compared with the same week last year.

Seven of the 10 carload commodity groups tracked by AAR saw gains. They included coal, up 7,232 carloads, to 68,820; metallic ores and metals, up 5,203 carloads, to 24,798; and nonmetallic minerals, up 2,054 carloads, to 32,676.

Losing ground were were motor vehicles and parts, down 5,896 carloads, to 11,709; grain, down 2,609 carloads, to 19,432; and petroleum and petroleum products, down 388 carloads, to 10,494.

For the first 37 weeks of 2021, U.S. railroads handled a cumulative volume of 8,528,660 carloads, an 8 percent increase, with 10,265,525 intermodal units, increasing 10.9 percent from last year.

Total combined traffic for the first 37 weeks of 2021 has been 18,794,185 carloads and intermodal units, up 9.6 percent compared with last year.

U.S. Freight Traffic Up 14.5% in June

U.S. railroads in June originated 1,175,232 carloads and increase of 19.1 percent or 188,164 carloads compared with June 2021.

Intermodal traffic for the month was 1,386,745 containers and trailers, a rise of 10.9 percent or 136,634 units over the same month in 2020.

Combined originations for June were 2,561,977, up 14.5 percent, or 324,798 carloads and intermodal units over June 2020.

AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray said the June figures were part of a second quarter performance that “reflect an economy that is in much better shape than it was but still has room to grow.”

AAR said that second-quarter carloads were the highest since the fourth quarter of 2019. Excluding coal they were the highest since the third quarter of 2019.

Gray said intermodal and chemical volumes were “both the highest for any quarter in history.” The AAR report said steel-related commodities were “relatively strong in the second quarter, reflecting higher demand as the industrial economy continues to recover.”

Of the 20 carload categories AAR tracks each month, 19 posted gains last month.

They included: coal, up 84,109 carloads or 33.5 percent; chemicals, up 22,660 carloads or 16 percent; and metallic ores, up 20,228 carloads or 164.6 percent. Only farm products excluding grain posted a decline by falling 425 carloads or 10.6 percent.

Excluding coal, carloads were up 104,055 carloads, or 14.1 percent. Excluding coal and grain, carloads were up 100,564 carloads, or 15.9 percent.

Total U.S. carload traffic for the first six months of 2021 was 6,002,525 carloads, up 9.4 percent, or 517,580 carloads, and 7,332,067 intermodal units, up 17.5 percent, or 1,093,832 containers and trailers, from 2020.

Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 26 weeks the year was 13,334,592 carloads and intermodal units, a 13.7 percent boost from 2020.

Rail Traffic Continued Gains Last Week

U.S. carload and intermodal traffic continued to see gains last week in the weekly Association of American Railroads traffic tally.

For the week ending March 13, carload traffic was up  2.1 percent while intermodal volume posted a 22.4 percent gain during the week ending March 13.

In a related development, BNSF Vice President, Consumer Products Tom G. Williams told a congressional hearing on March 10 that December 2020 and January 2021 “were the two largest months in BNSF history for moving volume direct to rail off the ports in Southern California.”

Williams said his company has recalled furloughed employees and pulled railcars and locomotives out of storage to help handle the increased freight demand.

Last week AAR said total carloads were 230,684 while intermodal volume was 290,052 containers and trailers.

The percentage increases were in comparison to the same week in 2020.

Six of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase vs. the comparable week in 2020.

They included coal, up 8,744 carloads, to 64,102; grain, up 3,958 carloads, to 23,939; and farm products, excluding grain, and food, up 910 carloads, to 16,766.

Seeing declines were motor vehicles and parts, down 4,258 carloads, to 14,829; chemicals, down 3,034 carloads, to 29,971; and petroleum and petroleum products, down 1,900 carloads, to 11,379.

For the first 10 weeks of 2021, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 2,218,117 carloads, a loss of 4.9 percent compared with 2020; and 2,761,908 intermodal units, a gain of 9.9 percent.

Total combined traffic for this year’s first 10 weeks was 4,980,025 carloads and intermodal units, a 2.7 percent increase over last year.

U.S. Freight Traffic up 11.4% Last Week

U.S. rail traffic for the week ending March 6 up 11.4 percent to 515,135 carloads and intermodal units, the Association of American Railroads said.

The comparison is with the same week in 2020. The trade association indicated that rail traffic continues to rise as it recovers from the effects of a polar vortex last month that slowed traffic.

Both carload and intermodal volume rose for the week. Total carloads were 232,494, an increase of 1.1 percent while containers and trailers was 282,641, an increase of  21.5 percent.

Five of the 10 carload commodity groups tracked by the AAR posted gains.

They included coal, up 6,939 carloads to 65,632; grain, up 5,657 carloads to 26,451; and farm products excluding grain and food up 371 carloads to 16,794.

Seeing declines were chemicals, down 3,833 carloads to 29,591; nonmetallic minerals, down 2,559 carloads to 27,833; and motor vehicles and parts, down 2,235 carloads to 15,912.

The cumulative volume for the first nine weeks of 2021 was 1,987,433 carloads, a decrease of 5.7 percent and 2,471,856 intermodal units, a gain of 8.6 percent.

Total combined U.S. traffic was 4,459,289 carloads and intermodal units, a gain of 1.7 percent.

Winter Hindered U.S. Rail Freight Traffic in February

A harsh period of winter weather that brought a polar vortex also put U.S. rail freight traffic into a deep freeze during February.

“During February, snow and ice covered wide swaths of the country, including many areas that rarely see harsh winter weather wreaking havoc on all forms of transportation, including rail,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray in a statement.

Gray said total U.S. rail carloads during the third week of February were the lowest for any week in AAR’s records that go back to 1988.

“While carloads rebounded during February’s final week to a more typical level, the month ended with noticeably lower total volumes,” Gray said. “On the positive side, both intermodal and grain traffic remained relatively strong through three of the four weeks of the month.”

For the month, U.S. railroads originated 824,636 carloads in February 2021, down 11.1 percent, or 102,972 carloads compared with February 2020.

They originated 1,015,995 containers and trailers, a gain of 1.8 percent, or 18,184 units.

Combined U.S. carload and intermodal originations were 1,840,631, a drop of 4.4 percent or 84,788 carloads and intermodal units compared with February 2020.

Three of the 20 carload commodity categories tracked by the AAR each month posted gains.

This included grain, up 12,342 carloads or 15.7 percent; pulp and paper products, up 578 carloads or 2.8 percent; and metallic ores, up 221 carloads or 1.4 percent.

Commodities that declined during February included: coal, down 31,837 carloads or 12.5 percent; crushed stone, sand and gravel, down 24,320 carloads or 33 percent; and motor vehicles & parts, down 14,336 carloads or 20.4 percent.

Excluding coal, carloads were fell 71,135 carloads, or 10.6 percent. Excluding coal and grain, carloads were down 83,477 carloads, or 14 percent.

Total carload traffic for the first two months of 2021 has been 1,754,939 carloads, down 6.5 percent, or 122,771 carloads, and 2,189,215 intermodal units, up 7.1 percent, or 144,732 containers and trailers.

Total combined traffic for the first eight weeks of 2021 is 3,944,154 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 0.6 percent compared with last year.

Rail Freight Traffic Up 9% Last Week

The Association of American Railroads reported that for the week ending Jan. 27 intermodal traffic rose nearly 19 percent compared with the same period in 2020. Carload traffic, though, fell.

For the week railroads saw an increase of 9 percent with 529,030 carloads and intermodal units handled.

While intermodal gained 17.8 percent for 298,051 units last week compared to the same week in 2020, carload traffic fell 0.7 percent to 230,979.

Of the 10 carload commodity groups, five posted an increase.

This included grain, up 5,481 carloads, to 27,295; chemicals, up 846 carloads, to 32,140; and forest products, up 603 carloads, to 10,192.

Posting declines were coal, down 4,949 carloads, to 63,474; nonmetallic minerals, down 2,672 carloads, to 25,233; and petroleum and petroleum products, down 1,139 carloads, to 12,522.

For the first three weeks of 2021, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 698,933 carloads, declining 1.4 percent from the week last year; and 883,897 intermodal units, increasing 13.6  percent from 2020.

Total combined U.S. traffic for the first three weeks of the year was 1,582,830 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 6.5 percent compared with last year.

Rail Traffic Up 5.8% Last Week

U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Jan. 16 showed an increase in volume of 5.8 percent over the same week in 2020.

The Association of American Railroads said carriers handled 528,547 carloads and intermodal units last week.

Much of the increase in traffic was caused by an increase in intermodal volume, which was 295,997 containers and trailers, a 12.8 percent increase.

The 232,550 carloads handled represented a 2 percent decrease.

Five carload groups showed increases, led by grain, up 42.6 percent at 27,613 carloads.

Other seeing gains in traffic were metallic ores and metals, up 1,715 carloads, to 23,325; and farm products, excluding grain, and food, up 1,621 carloads, to 16,818.

Declines were posted by coal, down 12,609 carloads, to 57,665; nonmetallic minerals, down 4,411 carloads, to 25,582; and miscellaneous carloads, down 402 carloads, to 9,755.

For the first two weeks of the year overall traffic was up 5.2 percent with intermodal up 11.6 percent, and carloads down 1.8 percent.