U.S. rail carload and intermodal units are down for week ending January 18, reports AAR
United States rail carload and intermodal volumes saw annual declines for the week ending January 18, according to data issued this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).
Rail carloads—at 237,394—fell 8.4% annually and trailed the week ending January 11, at 239,119, and topped the week ending January 4 at 215,564.
AAR reported three of the ten carload commodity groups it tracks saw annual gains, including: miscellaneous carloads, up 903 carloads, to 10,242; metallic ores and metals, up 827 carloads, to 21,616; and chemicals, up 649 carloads, to 32,478. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2019 included coal, down 17,651 carloads, to 70,388; grain, down 3,631 carloads, to 19,373; and petroleum and petroleum products, down 978 carloads, to 12,730.
Intermodal containers and trailers—at 262,338 units—dropped 7.7% annually, trailing the week ending January 11 at 262,505 and topping the week ending January 4 at 198,450.
Through the first three weeks of 2020, U.S. rail carloads—at 692,077—are down 7.4% annually, and intermodal units—at 723,293—are down 8.1%.
