AAR: Carload and intermodal volumes fall in Week 37

(Source: Progressive Railroading 09/17/2020)

U.S. freight railroads logged 474,785 carloads and intermodal units during the week ending Sept. 12, a 9.9 percent decrease compared with the same week in 2019, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Total carloads for the week were 214,142 units, down 15.2 percent, while intermodal volume was 260,643 containers and trailers, down 5 percent.

Just one of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase during the week. It was grain, up 3,098 carloads, to 21,550.

Commodity groups that posted carload decreases included coal, down 20,518 units to 60,278; nonmetallic minerals, down 9,007 units to 26,760; and metallic ores and metals, down 4,648 units to 18,157.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads reported 77,003 carloads for the week, down 5 percent, and 70,777 intermodal units, down 5.5 percent. Mexican railroads logged 18,451 carloads, down 11.6 percent, and 17,280 intermodal units, down 19.1 percent.

Individual Class Is reported the following carloads during the week compared with the same week in 2019: BNSF Railway Co., 83,650 carloads, down from 97,417; Canadian Pacific, 31,643, down from 34,039; CN, 58,412, down from 62,960; CSX, 60,797, down from 67,606; Kansas City Southern, 13,035, down from 14,595; Norfolk Southern Railway, 51,286, down from 63,188; and Union Pacific Railroad, 78,223, down from 89,773.

For the first 37 weeks of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019:
• U.S. railroads logged 17,043,156 carloads and intermodal units, down 11.2 percent;
• Canadian railroads posted 5,159,513 carloads, containers and trailers, down 8.1 percent; and
• Mexican railroads reported 1,278,037 carloads and intermodal units, down 9.6 percent.