The AAR closes out on 2023

In December 2023, 16 of the 20 carload commodity categories tracked by the AAR each month saw carload gains compared with December 2022. These included: chemicals, up 14 636 carloads or 13.1%; coal, up 13 971 carloads or 5.9%; and motor vehicles & parts, up 7212 carloads or 14.1%. Commodities that saw declines in December 2023 from December 2022 included: crushed stone, sand & gravel, down 2781 carloads or 4.1%; nonmetallic minerals, down 1105 carloads or 9.8%; and all other carloads, down 625 carloads or 3.3%.

“Total US rail carloads were up 2.0% in 4Q23 over 4Q22, while US intermodal was up 5.5% over the same period. That means Q4 was clearly the best quarter of 2023 for US rail volumes on a year-over-year basis,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray. “It appears that intense rail efforts to improve service quality are paying off. Railroads are hopeful that gains in the fourth quarter will carry over into the first quarter of 2024 and beyond.”

Excluding coal, carloads were up 45 833 carloads, or 7.9%, in December 2023 from December 2022. Excluding coal and grain, carloads were up 40 036 carloads, or 8.0%.

Total US carload traffic for 2023 was 11 701 875 carloads, up 0.7%, or 81 504 carloads, from the same period the previous year; and 12 667 354 intermodal units, down 4.9%, or 657 165 containers and trailers, from last year.

Total combined US traffic for 2023 was 24 369 229 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 2.3% compared to the previous year.

Week Ending 30 December 2023

Total US weekly rail traffic was 370 800 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.4% compared with the same week the previous year.

Total carloads for the week ending 30 December were 182 062 carloads, up 4.1% compared with the same week in 2022, while US weekly intermodal volume was 188 738 containers and trailers, up 2.7% compared to 2022.

Six of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2022. They included chemicals, up 6273 carloads, to 30 543; farm products excl. grain, and food, up 2370 carloads, to 15 310; and petroleum and petroleum products, up 1537 carloads, to 8936. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2022 included motor vehicles and parts, down 1705 carloads, to 7712; miscellaneous carloads, down 1493 carloads, to 5317; and nonmetallic minerals, down 898 carloads, to 18 723.

North American rail volume for the week ending 30 December 2023, on 10 reporting US, Canadian and Mexican railroads totalled 270 807 carloads, up 5.0% compared with the same week last year, and 254 475 intermodal units, up 3.8% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 525 282 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.4%. North American rail volume for 2023 was 34 105 519 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.1% compared with 2022.

Canadian railroads reported 75 463 carloads for the week, up 9.9%, and 56 220 intermodal units, up 6.4% compared with the same week in 2022. For 2023, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 8 299 862 carloads, containers and trailers, down 2.4%.

Mexican railroads reported 13 282 carloads for the week, down 8.1% compared with the same week last year, and 9517 intermodal units, up 13.1%. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for 2023 was 1 436 428 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 2.1% from the same point last year.

Read the article online at: https://www.drybulkmagazine.com/rail-barge/04012024/the-aar-closes-out-on-2023/