U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes are mixed in April, reports AAR

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

Rail carloads, at 848,882, were down 6.5%, or 58,751 carloads, annually. AAR said that when excluding coal, carloads were up 13,134 carloads, or 2.0% annually, and when excluding coal and grain, carloads were up 9,541 carloads, or 1.7%.

And nine of the 20 carload commodity categories tracked by the AAR posted annual gains, including: motor vehicles & parts, up 7,191 carloads or 12.1 percent; petroleum & petroleum products, up 4,967 carloads or 13.8 percent; and chemicals, up 3,686 carloads or 2.9 percent. Commodities posting annual declines included: coal, down 71,885 carloads or 28.0 percent; metallic ores, down 4,113 carloads or 16.9 percent; and crushed stone, sand & gravel, down 3,856 carloads or 4.4 percent.

Intermodal containers and trailers, at 1,018,569 units, increased 8.6%, or 80,471 units, annually.

“U.S. rail carloads declined in April primarily due to decreased coal shipments,” said Rand Ghayad, Chief Economist at the Association of American Railroads, in a statement. “Excluding coal, year-over-year carload volumes have experienced a three-month consecutive increase. In April, out of the 20 carload categories monitored, 9 showed growth, with several experiencing marginal declines. Additionally, sustained consumer spending and heightened port activity contributed to the eighth consecutive year-over-year rise in intermodal traffic for April.”

For the week ending April 27, AAR reported that U.S. rail carloads, at 214,414, were off 6.4% annually, trailing the week ending April 20, at 216,945, and topping the week ending April 13, at 208,381. Intermodal units, at 261,888, topped the weeks ending April 20 and April 13, at 257,599, and 258,082, respectively.