U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes see annual declines, for week of January 20, reports AAR

United States rail carload and intermodal volumes, for the week ending January 20, saw annual declines, according to data issued this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Rail carloads, at 173,371, were down 22.4% annually, trailing the weeks ending January 13 and January 6, at 213,277, and 208,176, respectively.

AAR said that none of the 10 carload commodity groups it tracks saw annual gains. Commodity groups posting annual declines included: coal, down 21,055 carloads, to 47,731; nonmetallic minerals, down 11,953 carloads, to 18,628; and grain, down 5,246 carloads, to 15,752.

Intermodal containers and trailers, at 224,182 units, saw a 4.5% annual decline, trailing the week ending January 13, at 244,176, and topping the week ending January 6, at 209,081.

Total weekly U.S. rail carload and intermodal volume, at 397,553 carloads and intermodal units, fell 13.2% annually.

Through the first three weeks of 2023, AAR reported that U.S. rail carload volume, at 594,824 carloads, is down 10.8% annually, and intermodal units, at 677,439, are up 0.2% annually.

North American rail volume for the week ending January 20, 2024, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 265,838 carloads, down 20.3% annually, and 289,982 intermodal units, down 6.0 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 555,820 carloads and intermodal units, down 13.5%. North American rail volume for the first three weeks of 2024 was 1,778,528 carloads and intermodal units, down 5.6% compared with 2023.