U.S. weekly rail traffic down 3.9% as commodity group post declines
jimfeng


U.S. weekly rail traffic declined 3.9% year-over-year to 495,868 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Oct. 1, 2022.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported total traffic of 234,420 carloads, down 3.1% and 261,448 containers and trailers, down 4.6% Y/Y.
In September 6 out of 10 carload commodity categories saw gains as compared to previous year: coal, up 2,551 carloads, to 67,866; motor vehicles and parts, up 1,334 carloads, to 14,606; and petroleum and petroleum products, up 626 carloads, to 10,449. Commodity groups that posted decreases: grain, down 3,225 carloads, to 22,745; metallic ores and metals, down 2,595 carloads, to 21,450; and miscellaneous carloads, down 2,389 carloads, to 8,056.
North American rail volume totaled 337,140 carloads, down 0.8% compared with the same week last year, and 350,834 intermodal units, down 1.3%. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 687,974 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.1%. 

Related: BNSF Railway (BRK.A) (BRK.B), Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP), Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI), Canadian Pacific (NYSE:CP), CSX Corporation (CSX), Union Pacific (UNP), Norfolk Southern (NSC) and the iShares Transportation Average ETF (IYT).
âDuring September, intermodal slowed as consumers continued to switch consumption more toward services and away from goods. However, two underlying factors have helped magnify this trend for railroads. The first is overbuying by many retailers in late 2020 and during 2021 that is now being reflected in substantial inventories of unsold goods that weakens replacement demand. Meanwhile, a slackening of internet buying from its pandemic peak, has softened trailer movements of packaged goods by rail.â said AAR Senior VP John T. Gray.