U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes are mixed for the week ending October 10, reports AAR

United States rail carload and intermodal volumes were mixed, for the week ending October 10, according to data issued this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Rail carloads—at 230,964—saw a 5.2% annual decline. This trailed the week ending October 3, at 232,273, and topped the week ending September 26, at 224,146.

AAR said that six of the 10 carload commodity groups it track saw annual gains, including: grain, up 6,531 carloads, to 27,434; motor vehicles and parts, up 810 carloads, to 16,103; and miscellaneous carloads, up 655 carloads, to 10,030. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2019 included coal, down 11,610 carloads, to 62,229; nonmetallic minerals, down 5,053 carloads, to 30,479; and petroleum and petroleum products, down 2,438 carloads, to 10,259.

Intermodal containers and trailers—at 289,488 units—saw an 8.4% annual increase, topping the week ending October 3, at 286,488, and trailing the week ending September 26, at 294,144.

On a year-to-date basis, through the first 41 weeks of 2020, AAR reported that U.S. carloads—at 8,798,767—are off 15% annually, and intermodal units—at 10,323,848—are down 5.5%. And total U.S. rail carload and intermodal units—at 19,122,615—are off 10.1% annually.

In a recent interview, AAR President and CEO Ian Jefferies told LM that when looking at where the freight railroad sector was in the March, April, and early May timeframe, when annual volumes were, on average, down 25%-to-28%, railroads have made a pretty impressive comeback on the traffic front from then to now.

“Intermodal has been performing at a very high level, with the third week of September being the third-highest week of intermodal movements ever in the history of the industry,” he said. “That gives you a sense of how strong things have been on the intermodal front, and we are certainly looking for that to continue to be strong.”

And he added other areas are showing strength, too, with railroads carrying moving the majority of finished automobiles, noting that when that sector experience a shutdown over the initial months of the pandemic, that subsequently shut down that portion of rail traffic. But with automobiles back online, Jefferies explained that railroads are now moving trucks and cars again and are starting to show annual gains, for weekly comparisons.

“Agriculture and grain continue to do well, as go into a strong harvest season,” he said. “There also continue to be laggards in the energy space, and things are not exactly where we want them to be across the board. But we are certainly encouraged by the positive direction that volumes have been taking, and we will continue to do everything we can to work with our customers and communities to keep that pointed in the right direction.”