U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes see annual decreases, reports AAR

TheAssociation of American Railroads (AAR)reported this week that United States rail carloads and intermodal containers and trailers were down annually in March.

Rail carloads, at 957,144, decreased 8.9%, or by 93,616, compared to March 2018. The AAR said that four of the 20 carload commodity categories it tracks saw annual gains, including: petroleum & petroleum products, up 8,290 carloads or 21.1%; motor vehicles & parts, up 1,215 carloads or 1.8%; and nonmetallic minerals, up 927 carloads or 6.3%. Commodities that saw declines in March 2019 from March 2018 included: coal, down 64,804 carloads or 19.1%; grain, down 11,837 carloads or 12.6%; and crushed stone, sand & gravel, down 8,732 carloads or 9.1%. Excluding coal, carloads were down 28,812 carloads, or 4.1%, in March 2019 from March 2018. Excluding coal and grain, carloads were down 16,975 carloads, or 2.8%.

Intermodalcontainers and trailers, at 1,065,790, fell 1.5%, or 16,387 units, annually in March.

On a year-to-date basis through March, U.S. carloads, at 3,195,609, are down 3.1%, or 100,800 carloads. Intermodal units, at 3,476,457, are down 0.6%, or 19892 units.

U.S. rail carloads for the week ending March 30, at 241,906, dropped 8.9% annually, and intermodal units, at 268,052, fell 0.4%.