WASHINGTON — U.S. freight rail volume for the week ending June 12 remains well ahead of pandemic-depressed figures for the corresponding week in 2020, and showed a notable increase from the previous week in 2021, as well.
Statistics from the Association of American Railroads show traffic for the week included a total of 529,635 carloads and intermodal units — a 17.9% increase from 2020, and an 8.3% increase from the week ending June 5, 2021 [see “U.S. rail traffic remains ahead of 2020 …,” Trains News Wire, June 10, 2021]. The total included 241,628 carloads, a 21.8% increase from year-earlier figures, and 288,007 trailers and containers, a 14.8% increase from the number in 2020.
Through 23 weeks of 2021, total traffic is up 13.7% over the year-to-date total for 2020, with intermodal volume up 18.5% and carloads up 8.3%.
North American totals for the week ending 2021, for 12 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads, include 338,783 carloads, up 16.2% over the same week a year ago, and 377,780 intermodal units, an increase of 14.5%, for a total of 716,563 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 15.3%.
