U.S. rail carload and intermodal units see annual gains, reports AAR

United States rail carload and intermodal volumes, for the month of March, according to data issued this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Rail carloads—at 1,156,158—headed up 4.1%, or 45,504 carloads, compared to March 2020. AAR officials noted that for some rail traffic categories, the percentage changes annual volumes, from 2020 to 2021, are inflated due to the COVID-19 pandemic-influenced “widespread shutdowns—and subsequent large reduction in rail volumes—that impacted many economic sectors last year at this time.” When excluding coal, AAR noted March carloads were up 23,494 carloads, or 2.9% annually, and when excluding coal and grain, carloads were up 350 carloads, or 0%.

AAR said that 11 of the 20 carload commodity categories it tracks saw annual gains in March, including: grain, up 23,144 carloads or 22.1%; coal, up 22,010 carloads or 7.6%; and motor vehicles & parts, up 10,043 carloads or 16.3%. Commodities that saw declines in March 2021 from March 2020 included: chemicals, down 7,857 carloads or 4.8%; petroleum & petroleum products, down 5,073 carloads or 8.5%; and crushed stone, sand & gravel, down 3,903 carloads or 4%.

Intermodal containers and trailers—at 1,430,331—saw a 24%, or 276,781 units—increase, from March 2020 to March 2021.

“When much of the economy shut down around this time last year, rail volumes plummeted too. We have to take that into account when comparing rail traffic this year to last year,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray in a statement. “That said, rail traffic has clearly rebounded from last year’s depths. Looking ahead, rail volumes are highly correlated with manufacturing output, so recent signs of strength in manufacturing are good signs for railroads too.”

For the first three months of 2020, AAR said that U.S carloads—at 2,911,097—are off 2.6%, or 77,267 carloads—annually. And intermodal units—at 3,619,546—are up 13.2%, or 421,513 units, for the same period.

For the week ending April 3, U.S. rail carloads—at 229,814—are up 4.1% annually, and intermodal units—at 285,478—are up 31%.