The continued strength of intermodal traffic lifted overall U.S. rail volume for November to a 3.1% increase over that of November 2019, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads, while traffic for the week ending Nov. 28 was up 3.7% over the same week a year earlier.
“U.S. rail traffic continued to make up lost ground in November,” AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray said in a press release. “Excluding coal, total U.S. rail carloads are now very close to where they were before the pandemic hit, with grain volumes approaching record highs due to soybean exports. Meanwhile, U.S. intermodal volumes have seen near record highs the past couple months due to both import volumes and internet purchasing by consumers.”
November saw U.S. railroads originate 900,194 carloads in November, down 5.8% from a year earlier, while originating 1,136,694 containers and trailers, an increase of 11.5%. Nine of 20 carload commodities saw increases in November over year-earlier figures.
For the week ending Nov. 28, U.S. railroads moved 455,792 carloads and intermodal units. The 206,288 carloads represented a 4.1% decrease from the same period in 2019, while the 246,504 intermodal units were an 11.2% increase. Total North American volume, for the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, totaled 308,361 carloads, up 0.8%, and 335,532 intermodal units, up 9.2%.
