Rail Traffic Down 16% Year-on-Year

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending January 8, 2022.

For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 440,761 carloads and intermodal units, down 16 percent compared with the same week last year.

Total carloads for the week ending January 8 were 210,020 carloads, down 10.6 percent compared with the same week in 2021, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 230,741 containers and trailers, down 20.4 percent compared to 2021.

One of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2021. It was nonmetallic minerals, up 207 carloads, to 25,613. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2021 included grain, down 5,652 carloads, to 21,952; coal, down 5,638 carloads, to 54,916; and metallic ores and metals, down 3,661 carloads, to 19,853.

For the first week of 2022, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 210,020 carloads, down 10.6 percent from the same point last year; and 230,741 intermodal units, down 20.4 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first week of 2022 was 440,761 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 16 percent compared to last year.

North American rail volume for the week ending January 8, 2022, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 288,324 carloads, down 13 percent compared with the same week last year, and 298,984 intermodal units, down 21.2 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 587,308 carloads and intermodal units, down 17.4 percent. North American rail volume for the first week of 2022 was 587,308 carloads and intermodal units, down 17.4 percent compared with 2021.

America’s freight railroads operate the safest, most efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally sound freight transportation system in the world — and the Association of American Railroads (AAR) is committed to keeping it that way.

Canadian railroads reported 60,301 carloads for the week, down 22.7 percent, and 56,857 intermodal units, down 23 percent compared with the same week in 2021. For the first week of 2022, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 117,158 carloads, containers and trailers, down 22.8 percent.

Mexican railroads reported 18,003 carloads for the week, down 2.6 percent compared with the same week last year, and 11,386 intermodal units, down 26.9 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first week of 2022 was 29,389 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 13.7 percent from the same point last year.