AAR releases its latest North American rail activity report

For the week ending 23 January, total US weekly rail traffic was 529 030 carloads and intermodal units (up 9% compared with the same week last year).

Total carloads for the week amounted to 230 979 carloads (down 0.7% compared with the same week in 2020), while US weekly intermodal volumes comprised 298 051 containers and trailers (up 17.8% compared to 2020).

Five of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2020. They included: grain (up 5481 carloads to 27 295); chemicals (up 846 carloads to 32 140); and forest products (up 603 carloads to 10 192). Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2020 included: coal (down 4 949 carloads, to 63 474); non-metallic minerals (down 2672 carloads to 25 233); and petroleum and petroleum products (down 1139 carloads to 12 522).

For the first three weeks of 2021, US railroads reported cumulative volume of 698 933 carloads (down 1.4% from the same point last year) and 883 897 intermodal units (up 13.6% from last year). Total combined US traffic for the first three weeks of 2021 was 1.58 million carloads and intermodal units (an increase of 6.5% compared to last year).

North American rail volume for the week ending 23 January 2021 – based on 12 reporting US, Canadian, and Mexican railroads – totalled 334 360 carloads (up 0.4% compared with the same week last year) and 389 102 intermodal units (up 14.4% compared with last year). Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 723 462 carloads and intermodal units (up 7.4%). North American rail volume for the first three weeks of 2021 was 2.15 million carloads and intermodal units (up 6.3% compared with 2020).

Canadian railroads reported 82 307 carloads for the week (up 1.6%) and 73 769 intermodal units (up 7.2% compared with the same week in 2020). For the first three weeks of 2021, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 468 093 carloads, containers, and trailers (up 8.8%).

Mexican railroads reported 21 074 carloads for the week (up 7.4% compared with the same week last year) and 17 282 intermodal units (down 5.9%). Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first three weeks of 2021 was 108 348 carloads, intermodal containers, and trailers (down 4.8% from the same point last year).