AAR reports mixed volumes for carload and intermodal in July

United States rail carload and intermodal volumes were mixed in July, according to data issued this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Carloads dipped 0.6%, or 6,079 carloads, annually to 1,019,239. And the AAR noted that 9 of the 20 carload commodities it tracks were up annually, including: crushed stone, sand & gravel, up 15 percent or 13,458 carloads; coal, up 4 percent or 13,097 carloads; and chemicals, up 1.5 percent or 1,842 carloads. Commodities that saw declines in July 2017 from July 2016 included: grain, down 14 percent or 13,325 carloads; motor vehicles & parts, down 12.9 percent or 7,544 carloads; and petroleum & petroleum products, down 15.4 percent or 6,508 carloads.

The AAR pointed out than when removing coal, carloads were down 2.8%, or 19,176 carloads, annually, and when excluding coal and grain, carloads were off 1%, or 5,851 carloads.

On the intermodal side, containers and trailers rose 5.6%, or 55,997 units, to 1,058,354 from July 2016 to July 2017.

“The decline in total rail carloads in July 2017 from July 2016 was very small at 0.6 percent, but it was the first carload decline since October 2016,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray in a statement. “Beginning in July last year, certain categories of rail traffic — coal and grain in particular — saw a surge in rail volumes. That surge suddenly made comparisons to this year much tougher. That largely explains July’s carload decline. Meanwhile, intermodal continues to do well — July’s 5.6% gain is the sixth straight year-over-year monthly increase, and intermodal is on track to set a new annual record this year.”   

Through the first seven months of 2017, U.S. carloads were up 5.4%, or 397,999 carloads, annually, and intermodal containers and trailers were up 3.1%, or 235,512, to 7,951,027.

For the week ending July 29, U.S. carloads were off 1.5% annually at 270,006, and intermodal containers and trailers rose 6.8% annually to 280,350.