WASHINGTON — After a brief taste of positive numbers, weekly U.S. rail traffic slipped back below 2021 figures for the week ending Sept. 10.
According to the latest statistics from the Association of American Railroads, total traffic for the week was 464,261 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.9% from the corresponding week in 2021. That included 223,384 carloads, down 0.2%, and 240,877 containers and trailers, down 1.7%.
Weekly traffic had been ahead of year-earlier figures for the previous two weeks, including a 3.7% increase a week ago [see “U.S. rail traffic up slightly in August …,” Trains News Wire, Sept. 8, 2022].
Year-to-date figures, through 36 weeks of 2022, show total traffic down 2.7% compared to 2021, with carloads up 0.2% and intermodal down 5.1%.
North American traffic for the week, for 12 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads, totaled 645,845 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.5%. The 321,989 carloads represented a 2% increase, while the 323,856 intermodal units represented a 1% rise.
Year-to-date totals for North America show overall traffic down 2.4%.
