Rail traffic for the week ending January 15, 2022

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending January 15, 2022.

For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 493,617 carloads and intermodal units, down 6.6 percent compared with the same week last year.

Total carloads for the week ending January 15 were 233,647 carloads, up 0.5 percent compared with the same week in 2021, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 259,970 containers and trailers, down 12.2 percent compared to 2021.

Three of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2021. They were coal, up 10,296 carloads, to 67,867; nonmetallic minerals, up 1,779 carloads, to 27,367; and chemicals, up 67 carloads, to 34,002. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2021 included grain, down 3,196 carloads, to 24,344; motor vehicles and parts, down 2,948 carloads, to 12,382; and petroleum and petroleum products, down 2,653 carloads, to 9,782.

For the first two weeks of 2022, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 443,667 carloads, down 5.1 percent from the same point last year; and 490,711 intermodal units, down 16.2 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first two weeks of 2022 was 934,378 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 11.3 percent compared to last year.

North American rail volume for the week ending January 15, 2022, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 323,685 carloads, down 5.3 percent compared with the same week last year, and 339,662 intermodal units, down 12.1 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 663,347 carloads and intermodal units, down 8.9 percent. North American rail volume for the first two weeks of 2022 was 1,250,655 carloads and intermodal units, down 13.1 percent compared with 2021.

Canadian railroads reported 68,016 carloads for the week, down 21.3 percent, and 64,393 intermodal units, down 13.4 percent compared with the same week in 2021. For the first two weeks of 2022, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 249,567 carloads, containers and trailers, down 20.2 percent.

Mexican railroads reported 22,022 carloads for the week, down 3.4 percent compared with the same week last year, and 15,299 intermodal units, down 4.4 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first two weeks of 2022 was 66,710 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 8.4 percent from the same point last year.