AAR: Rail Volumes Up for Second Consecutive Month in October
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
(Union Pacific Photograph)
Total year-over-year carload and intermodal volumes for U.S. railroads rose for the second consecutive month in October. And they were “the most for any month since June 2021, a span of 28 months,” Association of American Railroads (AAR) Senior Vice President John T. Gray reported Nov. 1. “Part of that relates to intermodal seasonality and concerns over Panama Canal capacity, but part of it also reflects an economy that remains resilient as reflected by recent strong GDP data.”
U.S. Class I railroads hauled a total of 1,997,322 carloads and intermodal units in October 2023, up 1.0%, or 20,280 carloads and intermodal units, compared with the same month in 2022, according to AAR’s latest rail traffic report covering October and the week ending Oct. 28, 2023. This comprises 921,591 carloads—down 0.3%, or 2,921 carloads, from the year-earlier period—and 1,075,731 containers and trailers—up 2.2%, or 23,201 units, from last year.
In comparison, combined U.S. carload and intermodal originations in September were 1,930,612, up 1.5%, or 27,850 carloads and intermodal units from the same point in 2022. Whereas August 2023 “was the third straight month in which total year-over-year U.S. rail carloads have fallen,” according to AAR.
In October 2023, nine of the 20 carload commodity categories tracked by the AAR each month saw carload gains compared with the prior-year period. These included petroleum and petroleum products, up 5,046 carloads or 14.2%; chemicals, up 3,842 carloads or 3.2%; and motor vehicles and parts, up 3,154 carloads or 5.4%. Commodities that saw declines in October 2023 included coal, down 12,284 carloads or 4.5%; grain, down 4,373 carloads or 4.7%; and crushed stone, sand and gravel, down 795 carloads or 0.9%.
Excluding coal, carloads were up 9,363 carloads, or 1.4%, in October 2023 from October 2022. Excluding coal and grain, carloads were up 13,736 carloads or 2.5%.
Total U.S. carload traffic for the first 10 months of this year was 9,696,421 carloads, up 0.2% or 21,802 carloads, from the same point in 2022; and 10,405,065 intermodal units, down 7.2% or 808,532 containers and trailers, from last year.
Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 43 weeks of 2023 was 20,101,486 carloads and intermodal units, dipping 3.8% from the same point in 2022.
Week Ending Oct. 28, 2023
Total U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Oct. 28, 2023, was 499,389 carloads and intermodal units, falling 1.2% from the same week last year.
Total carloads for the week came in at 227,575, decreasing 4.2% compared with the same week in 2022, and U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 271,814 containers and trailers, increasing 1.5% from 2022.
Three of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2022. They were chemicals, up 1,334 carloads, to 31,336; petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,182 carloads, to 9,978; and farm products excluding grain, and food, up 246 carloads, to 16,788. Commodity groups that posted decreases included coal, down 7,264 carloads, to 63,676; nonmetallic minerals, down 1,573 carloads, to 32,423; and grain, down 1,303 carloads, to 22,941.
North American rail volume for the week ending Oct. 28, 2023, on 10 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 339,642 carloads, a 2.6% drop-off compared with the same week last year, and 353,354 intermodal units, down 0.8% from last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America came in at 692,996 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.7%. North American rail volume for the first 43 weeks of this year was 28,145,583 carloads and intermodal units, a 3.5% fall-off from 2022.
For the week ending Oct. 28, 2023, Canadian railroads reported 95,880 carloads, rising 3.8%, and 70,444 intermodal units, dropping 7.1% from the same week last year. For the first 43 weeks of 2023, they reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 6,843,396 carloads, containers and trailers, down 3.5%.
Mexican railroads reported 16,187 carloads for the week ending Oct. 28, 2023, falling 13.5% from the same week last year, and 11,096 intermodal units, decreasing 11.5%. Their cumulative volume for the first 43 weeks of this year was 1,200,701 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 2.0% from the same point in 2022.
