Recovery flows and the looming threat of an East Coast port strike helped push intermodal volume to record highs for the week ending Sept. 14.
The Association of American Railroads on Wednesday reported U.S. rail traffic was 522,557 carloads and intermodal units, up 6.8% from the same week in 2023.
Intermodal volume soared to 290,403 containers and trailers, up 13% compared to the same week in 2023 and ahead of all other carloads for the week ending Sept. 14 at 232,154 carloads, unchanged from a year ago.
In the numbers behind the numbers provided by the AAR, the post-Labor Day run-up and ongoing recovery by Canadian railroads CN and CPKC following a brief shutdown powered U.S. container originations for the week to 281,011, an all-time high and breaking a record set just three weeks earlier. Total intermodal was the most since the pandemic-aided week 17 of 2021 and was the 22nd best week ever.
Seven of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2023. They included grain, up 3,048 carloads to 19,372; miscellaneous carloads, up 1,837 carloads to 10,781; and farm products excluding grain and food, up 820 carloads to 17,227.
Commodities that fell compared with the same week in 2023 were coal, down 5,797 carloads to 63,017; nonmetallic minerals, off 1,853 carloads to 32,020; and chemicals, down 310 carloads to 32,444.
For the first 37 weeks of 2024, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 8,012,176 carloads, down 3.3% from the same point in 2023, and 9,641,820 intermodal units, up 9.5%. Total combined U.S. traffic was 17,653,996 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.3% from a year ago.
North American rail volume for the week ending Sept. 14 on nine reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 338,817 carloads, a decline of 0.8% compared with the same week in 2023, and 374,207 intermodal units, a gain of 9.8%. Total combined traffic was 713,024 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.5%. Volume through the first 37 weeks of this year reached 24,587,434 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.6% from 2023.
Canadian railroads reported 91,036 carloads for the week, weaker by 1.3%, and 71,170 intermodal units, down 0.3% compared with the same week in 2023. For the first 37 weeks of 2024, Canadian railroads reported cumulative traffic of 5,853,653 carloads, containers and trailers, up 0.2%.
Mexican railroads reported 15,627 carloads for the week, down 8.9%, and 12,634 intermodal units, up 2.1% from 2023. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 37 weeks of 2024 was 1,079,785 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 4.8% from the previous-year period.