According to the AAR, U.S. Class I railroads hauled a total of 472,525 carloads and intermodal units during the week ending Aug. 26, 2023, comprising 226,679 carloads—down 3.9% from the same week last year—and 245,846 containers and trailers—down 7.7% from 2022.
Results were similar for the previous week. For the week ending Aug. 19, 2023, U.S. rail traffic came in at 478,853 carloads and intermodal units, a 2.7% dip from the prior-year period. That comprises 228,972 carloads, down 0.6%, and 249,881 containers and trailers, down 4.6%.
Both carloads and intermodal volume also dropped for the week ending Aug. 12, 2023, and for the week ending Aug. 9, 2023. However, July saw the three highest-volume intermodal weeks of 2023, not including the week of Independence Day. Carloads of chemicals also rose in July—for the first time in nearly a year—but the month was “exceptionally weak” for grain carloadings, AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray reported Aug. 2. “[W]e are cautious to put too much stock in this month’s exact results,” he stressed, since July rail volumes are always impacted by July 4 closures, “but there are reasons for both optimism and caution.”
For the week ending Aug. 26, 2023, four of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2022. They included motor vehicles and parts, up 1,500 carloads, to 16,113; petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,373 carloads, to 9,921; and nonmetallic minerals, up 507 carloads, to 33,254. Commodity groups that posted decreases included coal, down 5,449 carloads, to 68,828; grain, down 4,767 carloads, to 13,312; and miscellaneous carloads, down 887 carloads, to 8,789.
For the first 34 weeks of this year, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 7,621,657 carloads, up 0.1% from the same point in 2022; and 8,074,700 intermodal units, down 9.2% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 34 weeks of 2023 came in at 15,696,357 carloads and intermodal units, a 4.9% drop-off from last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending Aug. 26, 2023, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 327,192 carloads, decreasing 3.4% from the same week last year, and 327,499 intermodal units, falling 8.9% from 2022. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 654,691 carloads and intermodal units, a fall-off of 6.2%. North American rail volume for the first 34 weeks of this year came in at 22,009,485 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.1% vs. 2022.
Canadian railroads reported 83,877 carloads for the week ending Aug. 26, 2023, a 4.8% decrease, and 69,342 intermodal units, a 15.8% drop from the same point last year. For the first 34 weeks of the year, they reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 5,357,780 carloads, containers and trailers, down 3.2%.
Mexican railroads reported 16,636 carloads for the week ending Aug. 26, 2023, rising 12.9% from the same week last year, and 12,311 intermodal units, gaining 15.3%. Their cumulative volume for the first 34 weeks of this year was 955,348 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 5.1% from the same point in 2022.
