AAR: Carloads Down, Intermodal Up for Week 4

(BNSF Photograph)

U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Jan. 27, 2024 (Week 4) was virtually flat with the prior-year period, as carload losses offset intermodal gains, according to the Association of American Railroads’ latest report.

U.S. Class I railroads hauled 467,222 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Jan. 27, 2024—up 0.7% from the same point last year, AAR reported Jan. 31. Total carloads came in at 208,131, down 9.0% from 2023, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 259,091 containers and trailers, up 10.1% from 2023.

For the week ending Jan. 27, 2024, two of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2023. They were petroleum and petroleum products, up 688 carloads, to 10,660; and motor vehicles and parts, up 2 carloads, to 13,757. Commodity groups that posted decreases included coal, down 11,014 carloads, to 57,231; nonmetallic minerals, down 5,919 carloads, to 23,370; and grain, down 2,316 carloads, to 21,025.

U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 802,955 carloads for the first four weeks of 2024, dropping 10.4% from the same point last year; and 936,530 intermodal units, rising 2.8% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first four weeks of 2024 was 1,739,485 carloads and intermodal units, a 3.7% decrease from last year.

North American rail volume for the week ending Jan. 27, 2024, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 313,288 carloads, down 7.2% compared with the same week last year, and 339,611 intermodal units, up 7.4% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 652,899 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.1%. North American rail volume for the first four weeks of 2024 came in at 2,431,427 carloads and intermodal units, a 4.2% fall-off from the same period in 2023.

For the week ending Jan. 27, 2024, Canadian railroads reported 87,086 carloads, decreasing 7.3%, and 67,580 intermodal units, decreasing 4.2% from the same week in 2023. For the first four weeks of 2024, they reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 579,313 carloads, containers and trailers, down 8.8%.

For the week ending Jan. 27, 2024, Mexican railroads reported 18,071 carloads, a 21.8% gain over the same week last year, and 12,940 intermodal units, a 25.5% gain. Their cumulative volume for the first four weeks of 2024 was 112,629 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, rising 19.2% from the prior-year period.