AAR: Traffic Holding Steady

Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
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Week 5 rail freight traffic didn't change much from Week 4, the Association of American Railroads has reported.

U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Feb. 6, 2021, largely reflected the previous week’s figures, with an intermodal gain tamping down a carload decline, according to the AAR’s Feb. 1 report.

Total U.S. weekly rail traffic came in at 495,815 carloads and intermodal units, a 2.2% increase vs. the same week last year. Total carloads for the week were 226,393, down 2.5% compared with the same point in 2020, while intermodal volume was 269,422 containers and trailers, up 6.4% compared with last year.

Five of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase vs. the comparable week in 2020. They included grain, up 5,070 carloads, to 25,951; chemicals, up 909 carloads, to 33,581; and farm products, excluding grain, and food, up 551 carloads, to 16,801. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week last year included coal, down 4,936 carloads, to 60,071; nonmetallic minerals, down 3,530 carloads, to 24,821; and miscellaneous carloads, down 1,546 carloads, to 9,321.

For the first five weeks of 2021, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 1,156,696 carloads, falling 2.2% from the same point last year; and 1,442,642 intermodal units, rising 11% from last year. Combined, U.S. traffic for the first five weeks of 2021 was 2,599,338 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 4.7% compared with last year.

North American rail volume for the week ending Feb. 6, 2021, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 320,658 carloads, down 2.4% compared with the same week in 2020, and 354,269 intermodal units, up 6.5% vs. last year. Total weekly rail traffic was 674,927 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.1%. Rail volume for the first five weeks of 2021 was 3,529,114 carloads and intermodal units, a gain of 3.9% compared with 2020.

Canadian railroads reported 77,309 carloads for the week, up 1.1%, and 71,036 intermodal units, up 15.2% vs. the same week in 2020. For the first five weeks of 2021, they reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 768,953 carloads, containers and trailers, up 5.9%.

Mexican railroads reported 16,956 carloads for the week ending Feb. 6, 2021, a 15.8% decline vs. the comparable week last year, and 13,811 intermodal units, a 21.9% decrease. Cumulative volume for the first five weeks of 2021 was 160,823 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 15.3% from the same period last year.

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