Dry bulk rail traffic down compared to 2023

Total carloads for the week ending 27 January were 208 131 carloads, down 9.0% compared with the same week in 2023, while US weekly intermodal volume was 259 091 containers and trailers, up 10.1% compared to 2023.

Two of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2023. They were petroleum and petroleum products, up 688 carloads, to 10 660; and motor vehicles and parts, up two carloads, to 13 757. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2023 included coal, down 11 014 carloads, to 57 231; nonmetallic minerals, down 5919 carloads, to 23 370; and grain, down 2316 carloads, to 21 025.

For the first four weeks of 2024, US railroads reported cumulative volumes of 802 955 carloads, down 10.4% from the same point in 2023; and 936 530 intermodal units, up 2.8% from 2023. Total combined US traffic for the first four weeks of 2024 was 1 739 485 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 3.7% compared to 2023.

North American rail volume for the week ending 27 January 2024, on 12 reporting US, Canadian and Mexican railroads totalled 313 288 carloads, down 7.2% compared with the same week in 2023, and 339 611 intermodal units, up 7.4% compared with 2023. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 652 899 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.1%. North American rail volume for the first four weeks of 2024 was 2 431 427 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.2% compared with 2023.

Canadian railroads reported 87 086 carloads for the week, down 7.3%, and 67 580 intermodal units, down 4.2% compared with the same week in 2023. For the first four weeks of 2024, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 579 313 carloads, containers and trailers, down 8.8%.

Mexican railroads reported 18 071 carloads for the week, up 21.8% compared with the same week in 2024, and 12 940 intermodal units, up 25.5%. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first four weeks of 2024 was 112 629 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 19.2% from the same point in 2023.

Read the article online at: https://www.drybulkmagazine.com/rail-barge/01022024/dry-bulk-rail-traffic-down-compared-to-2023/