U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes are mixed in January, reports AAR

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

Rail carloads—at 923,696—increased 2.2%, or 19,827 carloads, annually, said AAR. And it added that 12 of the 20 carload commodity groups it tracks saw annual gains, including: crushed stone, sand & gravel, up 14,694 carloads or 22.6%; coal, up 11,953 carloads or 4.6%; and motor vehicles & parts, up 6,293 carloads or 13.4%. Commodities seeing annual declines included: chemicals, down 15,641 carloads or 11.4%; all other carloads, down 2,273 carloads or 10.3%; and lumber & wood products, down 1,939 carloads or 14.5%.

When excluding coal, carloads were up 7,874 carloads, or 1.2%, in January 2023 from January 2022 and when excluding coal and grain, carloads were up 5,518 carloads, or 1.0%, said AAR.

Intermodal containers and trailers—at 1,843,624—fell 3.2%, or 61,616 units—annually.

“Rail traffic began 2023 much the same way we ended 2022 -demonstrating reasons for both optimism and caution,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray in a statement. “For example, this was the best January for carloads of crushed stone and sand on record, largely due to the growth in domestic natural gas production and the need for frac sand. Automotive traffic, although not yet at pre-pandemic levels, had a healthy improvement over 2022. Negatively, it was the worst January for intermodal since 2013 with major retailers cutting back on inventories and consumer spending — especially on goods—having contracted.”

For the week ending January 28, AAR reported that U.S. rail carloads—at 236,018—fell 0.1% annually, and intermodal units—at 237,632—were off 7.4%.

North American rail volume for the week ending January 28, 2023, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 340,616 carloads, up 2.3% compared with the same week last year, and 317,248 intermodal units, down 6.2 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 657,864 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.0%. North American rail volume for the first four weeks of 2023 was 2,551,044 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.9% compared with 2022.