U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes are blended, for week ending August 20, reports AAR

United States rail carload and intermodal volumes, for the week ending August 20, were mixed, according to data issued this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Rail carloads—at 237,404—rose 2.9% annually, trailing the week ending August 13, at 237,857, and topping the week ending August 6, at 230,573.

AAR said that seven of the 10 carload commodity groups it tracks saw annual gains, including: coal, up 4,321 carloads, to 68,280; grain, up 2,825 carloads, to 20,974; and farm products excl. grain, and food, up 2,128 carloads, to 17,031. Commodity groups that saw declines included: were miscellaneous carloads, down 1,951 carloads, to 8,600; metallic ores and metals, down 1,248 carloads, to 22,270; and petroleum and petroleum products, down 627 carloads, to 9,681.

Intermodal containers and trailers—at 264,144 units—were down 2.4% annually, trailing the weeks ending August 13 and August 6, at 264,924 and 265,953, respectively.

On a year-to-date basis, through the first 33 weeks of 2022, AAR reported that U.S. rail carloads—at 7,606,648—were essentially flat compared to the same period last year down 0.01%. Intermodal units—at 8,707,653—were down 5.5%, for the same period.   

North American rail volume for the week ending August 20, 2022, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 334,389 carloads, up 2.3% compared with the same week last year, and 354,588 intermodal units, down 1.7% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 688,977 carloads and intermodal units, up 0.2%. North American rail volume for the first 33 weeks of 2022 was 22,296,729 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.8% compared with 2021.