AAR reports another week of U.S. rail carload and intermodal declines for week ending April 25
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Rail carloads—at 192,110—fell 28.2% compared to the same week a year ago, topping the week ending April 18, at 189,598, and trailing the week ending April 11, at 198,726.
The AAR said that one of the ten carload commodity groups it tracks, miscellaneous carloads, posted an annual gain, with a 151-carload increase to 10,021. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2019 included coal, down 32,853 carloads, to 48,128; motor vehicles and parts, down 13,562 carloads, to 2,235; and metallic ores and metals, down 7,572 carloads, to 17,496.
Intermodal containers and trailers—at 222,013—slipped 16.5% annually, topping the week ending April 18, at 213,685, and the week ending April 11, at 213,777.
“With most of the country still firmly locked down, rail volumes are predictably down,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray in a statement. “Last week, coal accounted for more than 40 percent of the year-over-year decline in total carloads. Coal’s decline is due to long-term structural shifts in electricity markets made worse by the coronavirus. For most other commodities seeing big carload declines – including motor vehicles, steel, ethanol, petroleum products, and more – the coronavirus clearly bears substantial blame during the last few weeks. It’s reasonable to expect rail carload losses derived directly from the virus to begin their return after the crisis passes and as the economy gradually recovers.”
Through the first 17 weeks of 2020, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 3,784,396 carloads, down 10.7 percent annually; and 4,045,944 intermodal units, also down 10.7 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 17 weeks of 2020 was 7,830,340 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 10.7 percent compared to last year.
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