U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes are mixed for December 2021, reports AAR

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

Rail carloads—at 1,135,835—saw a 3.1%, or 33,918 carloads—annual gain, said AAR. And 14 of the 20 carload commodity categories tracked by the AAR saw annual gains, including: coal, up 21,871 carloads or 7.4 percent; crushed stone, sand & gravel, up 17,926 carloads or 25.3 percent; and chemicals, up 9,675 carloads or 6 percent. Commodities that saw declines in December 2021 from December 2020 included: grain, down 12,701 carloads or 9.9 percent; motor vehicles & parts, down 8,637 carloads or 12.6 percent; and petroleum & petroleum products, down 5,560 carloads or 10 percent.

When excluding coal, AAR said carloads were up 12,047 carloads, or 1.5 percent annually. And when excluding coal and grain, carloads were up 24,748 carloads, or 3.7%.

Intermodal containers and trailers—at 1,224,780—fell 8.2%, or 109,729 units, annually. Total December U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes—at 2,360,615—was off 3.1%, or 75,811 units—annually.

“For most categories, rail traffic in 2021 was substantially higher than in 2020,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray in a statement. “On the carload side, chemicals set a new annual record and grain had its best year since 2008. Coal carloads were up substantially because of sharply higher natural gas prices, while carloads of motor vehicles suffered as microchip shortages forced automakers to cut output. For intermodal, a record-setting first half gave way to a lower second half as supply chain challenges persisted. Still, 2021 was the second-best U.S. intermodal year ever, behind only 2018.”

For calendar year 2021, AAR reported that U.S. rail carloads—at 12,010,274—saw a 6.6%, or 744,646 carloads, annual increase. Intermodal containers and trailers—at 14,142,442—rose 4.9%, or 665,528 units.

And for the week ending January 1, U.S. rail carloads rose 1.7% annually, to 205,836 carloads, and intermodal units fell 13.7% annually, to 189,535.