AAR: Rail traffic declines for 17th straight week as of June 18, 2022

(Source: Association of American Railroads press release, June 22, 2022.)

BLET Editor’s Note: This is the 17th consecutive week that total traffic has declined. Total traffic gains were last seen in Week 7, which ended Feb. 17, 2022.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending June 18, 2022.

For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 501,207 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.5 percent compared with the same week last year.

Total carloads for the week ending June 18 were 232,921 carloads, up 0.4 percent compared with the same week in 2021, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 268,286 containers and trailers, down 4.9 percent compared to 2021.

Six of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2021. They included grain, up 2,411 carloads, to 22,012; nonmetallic minerals, up 860 carloads, to 32,505; and motor vehicles and parts, up 833 carloads, to 13,366. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2021 included metallic ores and metals, down 2,707 carloads, to 20,915; coal, down 1,539 carloads, to 66,281; and miscellaneous carloads, down 382 carloads, to 8,908.

For the first 24 weeks of 2022, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 5,529,499 carloads, up 0.02 percent from the same point last year; and 6,349,485 intermodal units, down 6.3 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 24 weeks of 2022 was 11,878,984 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 3.5 percent compared to last year.

North American rail volume for the week ending June 18, 2022, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 328,846 carloads, down 0.8 percent compared with the same week last year, and 353,209 intermodal units, down 4.6 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 682,055 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.8 percent. North American rail volume for the first 24 weeks of 2022 was 16,198,883 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.6 percent compared with 2021.

Canadian railroads reported 76,443 carloads for the week, down 0.2 percent, and 70,088 intermodal units, down 2.6 percent compared with the same week in 2021. For the first 24 weeks of 2022, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 3,431,630 carloads, containers and trailers, down 5.6 percent.

Mexican railroads reported 19,482 carloads for the week, down 15.2 percent compared with the same week last year, and 14,835 intermodal units, down 8.2 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 24 weeks of 2022 was 888,269 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 2.1 percent from the same point last year.