U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes see annual declines, for week ending July 8, reports AAR

United States rail carload and intermodal volumes, for the week of July 8, saw annual declines, according to data issued this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Rail carloads—at 197,086—saw a 2.3% annual decline, trailing the weeks ending July 1 and June 24, at 223,254, and 222,431, respectively.  

AAR reported that five of the 10 carload commodity groups it tracks saw annual gains, including: metallic ores and metals, up 1,243 carloads, to 18,031; nonmetallic minerals, up 759 carloads, to 30,033; and petroleum and petroleum products, up 445 carloads, to 8,843. Commodity groups posting annual declines included: grain, down 3,685 carloads, to 12,629; coal, down 1,745 carloads, to 58,369; and forest products, down 1,373 carloads, to 7,140.

Intermodal containers and trailers—at 210,757 units—were down 7.6% annually, trailing the weeks ending July 1 and June 24, at 261,189, and 247,002, respectively.

Through the first 27 weeks of 2023, AAR reported that U.S. carloads are basically even with the same period a year ago, up 0.5%, to 6,040,821, and intermodal units, at 6,324,352, are down 10.2%.

North American rail volume for the week ending July 8, 2023, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 296,283 carloads, down 2.7 percent compared with the same week last year, and 260,069 intermodal units, down 16.8 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 556,352 carloads and intermodal units, down 9.8 percent. North American rail volume for the first 27 weeks of 2023 was 17,384,731 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.2 percent compared with 2022.