AAR Week 51: Intermodal Continues to Deliver

Intermodal gains—due in part to e-commerce’s surge through the pandemic and Holiday season—surpassed carload declines to drive U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Dec. 19, 2020, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on Dec. 23.

Total U.S. weekly rail traffic of 520,305 carloads and intermodal units was up 2.5% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads were 230,838, down 5.8% compared with the same 2019 period, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 289,467 containers and trailers, up 10.3% compared with 2019.

Two of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same 2019 period: Grain, up 4,274 carloads, to 25,860; and chemicals, up 879 carloads, to 33,276. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2019 were coal, down 9,907 carloads, to 62,110; nonmetallic minerals, down 4,300 carloads, to 25,840; and petroleum and petroleum products, down 2,416 carloads, to 11,701.

For the first 51 weeks of 2020, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 11,094,786 carloads, a 13.2% decline from the same point last year; and 13,235,629 intermodal units, a 2.3% decrease from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 51 weeks of 2020 was 24,330,415 carloads and intermodal units, down 7.6% compared with last year.

North American rail volume for the week on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 335,577 carloads, down 4.4% compared with the same period last year, and 377,410 intermodal units, up 8.2% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 712,987 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.9%. North American rail volume for the first 51 weeks of 2020 was 33,479,259 carloads and intermodal units, down 7% compared with 2019.

Canadian railroads reported 84,546 carloads for the week, decreasing 1.9%, and 73,122 intermodal units, rising 7.7% compared with the same week in 2019. For the first 51 weeks of 2020, they reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 7,377,822 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 4.3%.

Mexican railroads reported 20,193 carloads for the week, up 1.3% compared with the same period last year, and 14,821 intermodal units, down 19.4%. Their cumulative volume for the first 51 weeks of 2020 was 1,771,022 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 9.8% from the same point last year.