AAR: Rail Traffic ‘Balanced’ Through June; New Report Launching July 8
Ghayad noted that freight rail “serves as a reflection of the broader economy, and the increase in motor vehicles and intermodal traffic indicates resilient consumer spending across various industries.”
U.S. Class I railroads handled 885,864 carloads in June 2024, down 1.7%, or 15,019 carloads, from the prior-year period, according to the AAR’s (Association of American Railroads’) rail traffic report for June 2024 and the week ending June 29, 2024. They also carried 1,074,646 containers and trailers, up 8.7%, or 85,896 units, from last year. Combined U.S. rail traffic came in at 1,960,510 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 3.8%, or 70,877 carloads and intermodal units, from June 2023.
In June 2024, 11 of the 20 carload commodity categories tracked by the AAR each month saw carload gains compared with June 2023. These included grain, up 10,971 carloads or 17.5%; chemicals, up 8,273 carloads or 6.7%; and petroleum and petroleum products, up 5,291 carloads or 14.0%. Commodities that saw declines included coal, down 26,273 carloads or 10.4%; crushed stone, sand and gravel, down 9,947 carloads or 11.2%; and all other carloads, down 4,016 carloads or 16.9%.
Excluding coal, carloads rose by 11,254, or 1.7%, in June 2024 from June 2023. Excluding coal and grain, carloads were up by 283, or 0.0%.
Total U.S. carload traffic for the first six months of this year came in at 5,569,374 carloads, dipping 4.5%, or 263,003 carloads, from the same point in 2023; and 6,643,110 intermodal units, rising 8.7%, or 529,349 containers and trailers, from 2023.
Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 26 weeks of 2024 was 12,212,484 carloads and intermodal units, a 2.2% gain over the prior-year period.
AAR, in its July 3 rail traffic report, announced that it will launch Rail Industry Overview. Starting July 8, the association will provide free each month “quick insights from our policy and economics team on what rail traffic data tells us about today and what could be coming down the tracks.” Sign up here to receive the new report.
Week Ending June 29, 2024
Total U.S. rail traffic for the week ending June 29, 2024, was 491,899 carloads and intermodal units, a 3.9% increase from the same week last year, according to the AAR. Total carloads came in at 224,775, up 1.1%, and intermodal volume was 267,124 containers and trailers, up 6.3% from 2023.
Six of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2023. They included grain, up 2,451 carloads, to 17,968; petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,837 carloads, to 10,620; and chemicals, up 1,787 carloads, to 34,337. Commodity groups that posted decreases included nonmetallic minerals, down 2,836 carloads, to 31,599; coal, down 1,509 carloads, to 57,796; and miscellaneous carloads, down 494 carloads, to 9,244.
North American rail volume for the week ending June 29, 2024, on 10 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 334,500 carloads, increasing 2.1% vs. the same week last year, and 347,441 intermodal units, gaining 4.6% over last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America came in at 681,941 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.3%. North American rail volume for the first 26 weeks of this year was 17,167,693 carloads and intermodal units, rising 2.1% from the same point in 2023.
For the week ending June 29, 2024, Canadian railroads reported 93,710 carloads, a 7.8% increase, and 66,742 intermodal units, a 1.0% fall-off from the same week in 2023. For the first 26 weeks of this year, they reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 4,188,444 carloads, containers and trailers, up 0.9%.
Mexican railroads reported 16,015 carloads for the week ending June 29, 2024, dropping 12.1% from last year, and 13,575 intermodal units, decreasing 0.7%. Their cumulative volume for the first 26 weeks of 2024 was 766,765 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 6.3% from the year-earlier period.
Further Reading:
- AAR: Carloads Down, Intermodal Up in Week 25
- AAR: North American Rail Volume Up Through Week 24
- AAR: Carloads Down, Intermodal Up in Week 23
- Will Intermodal, Petroleum Carry the Day for Railroads?
- AAR: Decreased Coal Shipments Cause U.S. Rail Declines in April
- Intermodal: March’s ‘Bright Spot,’ AAR Reports
- AAR: February Data Shows Elements That ‘Inspire Optimism, Call for Caution’
- AAR: ‘January Not Necessarily a Harbinger of What’s to Come’
