U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes are down for week ending May 9, reports AAR

United States rail carload and intermodal volumes saw annual declines, for the week ending May 9, according to data issued this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Rail carloads—at 185,144—fell 28.4%, annually, trailing the weeks ending May 2 and April 25, at 189,100 and 192,110, respectively.

AAR reported that none of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2019. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2019 included coal, down 34,111 carloads, to 46,515; motor vehicles and parts, down 14,876 carloads, to 2,108; and metallic ores and metals, down 7,513 carloads, to 13,624.

Intermodal containers and trailers—at 227,405 units—saw a 16% annual decline, barely trailing the week ending May 2, at 227,764, and topping the week ending May 29, at 222,013.

“Last week was similar to recent weeks, in that the vast majority of rail traffic categories saw similar large year-over-year volume declines. As in the prior two weeks, autos, coal and steel saw especially big declines last week,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray in a statement. “In terms of total carloads, last week was the second lowest since our data began in 1988. Railroads have lots of experience weathering difficult times, and they’ll weather this one. That said, they’re hopeful that the efforts now underway to find effective ways to combat the pandemic will bear fruit and our economy can first recover and then return to growth mode.” 

Through the first 19 weeks of 2020, AAR reported that U.S. rail carloads—at 4,158,730—were off 12.7% compared to the same timeframe a year ago, and intermodal units—at 4,501,113 units—fell 11.2% for the same period.