WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic for the week ending June 17 was one of the mildest weekly declines this year, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads.
Overall traffic was 477,126 carloads and intermodal units, down just 3% from the same week in 2022. That included 228,724 carloads, up 1.2%, and 248,402 containers and trailers, down 6.5%. Intermodal traffic had been showing double-digit declines against 2022 figures for several weeks.
Through 24 weeks of 2023, carload traffic is up 0.7%, while intermodal traffic is down 10.7%, for an overall decline of 5.5% compared to the same period a year ago.
North American figures for the week, from 12 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads, include 332,282 carloads, an increase of 1.3% from the same week a year ago, and 333,358 intermodal units, a decrease of 5.5%. The total combined volume of 665,640 carloads and intermodal units is a 2.3% drop from the same week in 2022. Year-to-date totals for North America show overall volume down 4.1%.
Interesting to note that, in spite of the precipitous decline in the number of coal fired power plants in the last 2 decades, coal represents the largest quantity of non-intermodal cars running on U.S. railroads.