U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes are down, for week of January 22, reports AAR

United States rail carload and intermodal volumes, for the week ending January 22, saw annual declines, according to data issued this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Rail carloads—at 223,395—were off 3.3% annually, trailing the week ending January 15, at 233,647, and topping the week ending January 8, at 210,020.

AAR reported that three of the 10 carload commodity groups it tracks saw annual gains, including: coal, up 2,727 carloads, to 66,313; chemicals, up 1,907 carloads, to 34,024; and nonmetallic minerals, up 125 carloads, to 25,354. Commodity groups with annual declines included grain, down 4,034 carloads, to 23,259; motor vehicles and parts, down 3,284 carloads, to 10,845; and petroleum and petroleum products, down 2,902 carloads, to 9,608.

Intermodal containers and trailers—at 254,607—saw a 14.8% annual decrease, trailing the week ending January 15, at 259,970, and topping the week ending January 15, at 230,741.

Through the first three weeks of 2022, AAR said that U.S. rail carloads—at 667,062—were down 4.5% compared to the same period a year ago. And intermodal units—at 744,778—were off 15.7%

North American rail volume for the week ending January 22, 2022, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 313,395 carloads, down 6.6% annually, and 330,983 intermodal units, down 15% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 644,378 carloads and intermodal units, down 11.2%. North American rail volume for the first three weeks of 2022 was 1,895,033 carloads and intermodal units, down 12.4% compared with 2021.