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%.