AAR reports on overall decrease in weekly rail traffic

Total carloads for the week were 173 371 carloads, down 22.4% compared with the same week in 2023, while US weekly intermodal volume was 224 182 containers and trailers, down 4.5% compared to 2023.

None of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2023. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2023 included coal, down 21 055 carloads, to 47 731; nonmetallic minerals, down 11 953 carloads, to 18 628; and grain, down 5246 carloads, to 15 752.

For the first three weeks of 2024, US railroads reported cumulative volume of 594 824 carloads, down 10.8% from 2023; and 677 439 intermodal units, up 0.2% from 2023. Total combined US traffic for the first three weeks of 2024 was 1 272 263 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 5.3% compared to 2023.

North American rail volume for the week ending 20 January 2024, on 12 reporting US, Canadian and Mexican railroads totalled 265 838 carloads, down 20.3% compared with the same week in 2023, and 289 982 intermodal units, down 6.0 % compared with 2023. 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.

Canadian railroads reported 74 967 carloads for the week, down 21.5%, and 54 327 intermodal units, down 15.6% compared with the same week in 2023. For the first three weeks of 2024, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 424 647 carloads, containers and trailers, down 9.8%.

Mexican railroads reported 17 500 carloads for the week, up 18.1% compared with the same week in 2023, and 11 473 intermodal units, up 24%. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first three weeks of 2024 was 81 618 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 17.7% from the same point in 2024.

Read the article online at: https://www.drybulkmagazine.com/rail-barge/25012024/aar-reports-on-overall-decrease-in-weekly-rail-traffic/