U.S. volumes see declines for week ending March 7, led by steep intermodal declines, says AAR

United States rail carload and intermodal volumes saw another week of annual declines, for the week ending March 7, according to data recently issued by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Rail carloads—at 229,742—fell 3.5% annually, trailing the week’s ending February 29 and February 22, at 234,652 and 232,869, respectively. 

AAR said that eight of the ten carload commodity groups posted an annual increase, including: chemicals, up 2,050 carloads, to 33,419; petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,984 carloads, to 12,641; and grain, up 1,731 carloads, to 20,863. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2019 were coal, down 17,877 carloads, to 58,659; and metallic ores and metals, down 190 carloads, to 19,672.

Intermodal containers and trailers—at 232,561—dropped 14.1% annually, trailing the week’s ending February 29 and February 22, at 242,959 and 249,821, respectively. 

“Comparing rail traffic from one week to another must be done with caution because many different factors can come into play, especially in the winter when the weather can play a big role,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray. “That said, rail intermodal loadings last week were down noticeably more than the norm over the past year. With the number of ships arriving at West Coast ports from Asia down sharply due to the coronavirus, it stands to reason that railroads are beginning to feel an impact too, at least in terms of intermodal. It’s impossible to quantify that impact with precision.”

Through the first ten weeks of 2020, AAR reported that total U.S. carloads—at 2,323,120—are off 6.2% annually, with intermodal units—at 2,745,466—down 7.7%.