United States rail carload and intermodal volumes in March each saw annual gains, according to data issued by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) this week.
Carloads––at 1,283,489––were up 7.3 percent, or 87,183 carloads, compared to March 2016. And 13 of the 20 carload commodity categories tracked by the AAR saw annual gains, including coal up 19 percent, crushed stone, gravel and sand up 12.5 percent, and grain up 10.6 percent. On the other end, motor vehicles and parts were off 5.3 percent, petroleum and petroleum products dropped 8.1 percent, and chemicals decreased by 1.3 percent. When removing coal loadings, the AAR said that carloads were up 2.7 percent, or 23,337 carloads, annually.
“Railroading is not for the faint of heart, as markets are continually changing and railroads have to adapt to changing circumstances," said AAR Senior Vice President of Policy and Economics John T. Gray in a statement. "Despite recent increases, in absolute terms rail coal volumes are much lower than they were even a few years ago, and rail crude oil volumes are roughly half what they were a couple of years ago. On the other hand, this was the best March ever for carloads of crushed stone, sand, and gravel, and it was the best March for grain since 2008.”
Intermodal containers and trailers––at 1,283,489––were up 5.5 percent, or 134,363 units, in March.
On a year-to-date-basis through March, U.S. rail carloads––at 3,324,102––were up 5.7 percent, or 180,655 carloads, annually, and intermodal––at 3,387,680 units––were up 1.4 percent, or 47,977 units.
Gray noted that the intermodal tally marks the best first quarter performance ever for U.S. intermodal volumes. He explained that while around half of intermodal is comprised of international trade, at least 42 percent of the carloads and intermodal units carried by U.S. railroads, and more than 35 percent of rail revenue are directly associated with international trade.
For the week ending April 1, the AAR reported that carloads, at 259,720, are up 7.2 percent, and intermodal, at 267,945, is up 5.5 percent.