WASHINGTON — Carload traffic showed more of a downward tick for the week ending Aug. 12, leading to a larger overall drop than has been the case recently for weekly U.S. rail traffic.
The weekly figure of 472,498 carloads and intermodal units represented a 4.2% decrease from the same week in 2022, after several weeks where the weekly decline had been 3.2% or less. The latest figure includes 224,412 carloads, down 3%, and 248,086 containers, down 5.3%.
Through 32 weeks of 2023, carload traffic is up 0.2% compared to the same period in 2022, while intermodal traffic is down 9.4%, for an overall decrease of 4.9%.
North American volume for the week, from 12 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads, includes 329,821 carloads, down 0.7% from the corresponding week in 2022, and 329,148 intermodal units, down 7.5%. The combined total of 658,979 carloads and intermodal units represents a 4.2% decrease, while the year-to-date North American figure is down 4.1%.
Far less grain moving this year, so far.
now rubber hits the road, will the RR’s maintain all those new T&E with less traffic and nothing showing as increasing in the near future.
Railroads are struggling while truck tonnage is forecast to grow by over two billion tons this year.