AAR: Another Double-Digit Gain for Intermodal

Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
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For the week ending Dec. 5, 2020, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 542,203 carloads and intermodal units—up 4.8% from the same period last year—based on a double-digit intermodal gain, according to an Association of American Railroads (AAR) Dec. 9 report. Total carloads were 244,986, down 1.4% compared with the same period in 2019, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume of 297,217 containers and trailers increased 10.5% compared with 2019.

Five of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2019. They were grain, up 4,757 carloads, to 27,950; chemicals, up 4,043 carloads, to 36,294; and farm products excluding grain, and food, up 1,365 carloads, to 17,494. Commodity groups that experienced decreases compared with the same week in 2019 included coal, down 7,535 carloads, to 65,192; nonmetallic minerals, down 3,304 carloads, to 28,714; and petroleum and petroleum products, down 1,871 carloads, to 11,710.

For the first 49 weeks of 2020, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 10,625,755 carloads, falling 13.6% from the same point last year; and 12,638,146 intermodal units, decreasing 2.9% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 49 weeks of 2020 was 23,263,901 carloads and intermodal units, a decline of 8.1% compared with last year.

North American rail volume for the week ending Dec. 5, 2020, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 348,727 carloads, down 1.7% compared with the same week last year, and 387,098 intermodal units, up 9.2% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 735,825 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.8%. North American rail volume for the first 49 weeks of 2020 was 32,022,836 carloads and intermodal units, down 7.4% compared with 2019.

Canadian railroads reported 83,831 carloads for the week, down 2.5%, and 75,310 intermodal units, up 12.2% compared with the same week in 2019. For the first 49 weeks of 2020, they reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 7,058,218 carloads and containers and trailers, down 4.7%.

Mexican railroads reported 19,910 carloads for the week, down 1.3% compared with the same week last year, and 14,571 intermodal units, down 21.1%. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 49 weeks of 2020 was 1,700,717 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 9.8% from the same point last year.

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