U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes are down, for week ending March 4, reports AAR

United States rail carload and intermodal volumes, for the week ending March 4, saw annual declines, to varying degrees, according to data issued by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) this week.

Rail carloads—at 237,413—fell 1.0% annually, topping the weeks ending February 25 and February 18, at 226,435 and 229,227, respectively.

AAR said that four of the 10 carload commodity groups it tracks posted annual gains, including: coal, up 3,612 carloads, to 72,903; petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,320 carloads, to 10,523; and motor vehicles and parts, up 995 carloads, to 14,264. Commodity groups posting annual declines included: grain, down 4,309 carloads, to 20,522; nonmetallic minerals, down 1,312 carloads, to 31,204; and metallic ores and metals, down 1,244 carloads, to 19,124.

Intermodal containers and trailers—at 236,778—fell 11.1% compared to the same week a year ago, topping the week ending February 25, at 232,798, and trailing the week ending February 18, at 237,705.

On a year-to-date basis, through the first nine weeks of 2023, AAR reported that U.S. rail carloads—at 2,066,853—eked out a 0.1% annual gain, and intermodal units—at 2,100,685—were down 8.6%. AAR said that total U.S. rail carloads and intermodal units—at 4,167,538—are down 4.5%.

North American rail volume for the week ending March 4, 2023, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 341,889 carloads, up 1.9 percent compared with the same week last year, and 311,197 intermodal units, down 10.4 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 653,086 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.4 percent. North American rail volume for the first nine weeks of 2023 was 5,750,477 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.5 percent compared with 2022.