WASHINGTON — Reversing the trend for most of 2021, the latest statistics from the Association of American Railroads show U.S. rail traffic declined for the week ending Aug. 21 when compared to the comparable week in 2020.
Traffic totaled 501,273 carloads and intermodal units, a 2.6% decrease from the 2020 figure. It also represented a slight decrease from the 504,810 carloads and intermodal units of the previous week in 2021.
The latest week’s figures include 270,519 trailers and containers, a 5.1% drop in intermodal volume, along with 230,754 carloads, a 0.4% increase.
Year-to-date figures through 33 weeks remain well ahead of 2020, with intermodal units up 13.3% and carloads up 8.6% for an overall increase of 11.1%. The average weekly figure for total traffic is 509,731 carloads and intermodal units.
North American totals for the week, as reported by 12 U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads, include 324,958 carloads (up 0.6%) and 359,713 intermodal units (down 3.3%). The total of 684,671 carloads and intermodal units represents a 1.5% decrease.
My suspicion is that these figures reflect the current state pf meltdown that is being caused by things like PSR and crew board cuts. The shortsightedness of players like UP is coming home to roost. When they have so much volume that a “pause” must be pressed on accepting new traffic, I think that the health of the industry is fine.
Really need 2019 figures to note down ward trends.
Agreed. I’d really like to see a comparison, excluding coal, with, say, 2005. If it’s a downward curve, that tells us what we need to know about the health of the industry.