U.S. rail carloads and intermodal units see annual declines in March, reports AAR

United States rail carload and intermodal volumes saw annual gains in March, according to data issued this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Rail carloads—at 899,673—fell 6%, or 57,148 carloads, compared to March 2019. AAR said that 10 of the 20 carload commodity groups it tracks saw annual gains, including: chemicals, up 5,881 carloads or 4.6%; all other carloads, up 2,108 carloads or 9.5% and petroleum & petroleum products, up 1,688 carloads or 3.5%. Commodities that saw declines in March 2020 from March 2019 included: coal, down 43,611 carloads or 15.9%; motor vehicles & parts, down 11,053 carloads or 15.9 percent; and crushed stone, sand & gravel, down 10,482 carloads or 12%. When excluding coal, AAR said carloads decreased 13,537 carloads, or 2%, annually and when excluding coal and grain, carloads were down 15,181 carloads, or 2.5%.

On the intermodal side, March’s cumulative 935,380 containers and trailers slipped 12.2%, or 130,461 units, annually.

“Rail traffic numbers confirm that the coronavirus is taking a toll on the economy,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray in a statement.  “For example, U.S. carloads of autos and auto parts last week were down 70% from the same week last year as auto production declined to zero and consumer spending has begun to shrink demand. While intermodal volume last week was down year-over-year 14% overall, total movements for the five railroads serving the West Coast ports remained steady for a fifth consecutive week, reinforcing the expectation that we may have seen the bottoming of the Asia-North America trade. However, this week also reminded us that the recent collapse in oil prices is hurting rail shipments of petroleum products, frac sand, and steel products.”

Gray also observed there were some glimpses of encouragement, with year-over-year carloads of grain seeing an increase in March for the first time in a year, with March also the best month for rail chemical carloads in two years.

The AAR executive also lauded various professionals on the front lines during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, health care professionals, who are on the front lines risking their own lives to save the lives of others, at the top of that list, as well as transportation and logistics providers – railroad, maritime and air cargo operating personnel, truckers, warehouse workers, delivery personnel – that he said are also working tirelessly to supply the goods that we simply could not live without.

For the week ending March 28, U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes saw declines, with carloads—at 219,844—down 9.1%, and intermodal units—at 229,923 containers and trailers—down 14.2%.

U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes were down annually for the first three months of 2020, AAR reported.

Rail carloads—2,993,051—were off 6.3%, or 202,755 carloads, and intermodal units—at 3,178,285—slipped 8.6%, or 298,297 units.