The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending June 1, 2019, as well as volumes for May 2019.
U.S. railroads originated 1,291,671 carloads in May 2019, down 2.1 percent, or 28,065 carloads, from May 2018. U.S. railroads also originated 1,315,684 containers and trailers in May 2019, down 5.9 percent, or 82,521 units, from the same month last year. Combined U.S. carload and intermodal originations in May 2019 were 2,607,355, down 4.1 percent, or 110,586 carloads and intermodal units from May 2018.
In May 2019, six of the 20 carload commodity categories tracked by the AAR each month saw carload gains compared with May 2018. These included: petroleum & petroleum products, up 13,513 carloads or 25.9 percent; chemicals, up 2,630 carloads or 1.6 percent; and nonmetallic minerals, up 2,534 carloads or 12.4 percent. Commodities that saw declines in May 2019 from May 2018 included: crushed stone, sand & gravel, down 20,358 carloads or 14.6 percent; grain, down 6,830 carloads or 5.7 percent; and primary metal products, down 3,117 carloads or 6.4 percent.
“The current weakness in the rail traffic numbers is due to a combination of factors,” said AAR Senior Vice President of Policy and Economics, John T. Gray. “These include flooding in the Midwest that’s been hindering the operations of railroads and many of their customers. More important is heightened economic uncertainty that’s being made worse by increased trade-related tensions; higher tariffs leading to reductions or disruptions of international trade, and lower industrial output. In addition, some rail markets are undergoing rapid change. For example, locally sourced frac sand in Texas is displacing sand that used to be shipped in by rail. Just by themselves, these reduced sand movements are having a material negative impact on total rail carloads.”
Excluding coal, carloads were down 26,417 carloads, or 2.9 percent, in May 2019 from May 2018. Excluding coal and grain, carloads were down 19,587 carloads, or 2.4 percent.
Total U.S. carload traffic for the first five months of 2019 was 5,528,824 carloads, down 2.4 percent, or 137,995 carloads, from the same period last year; and 5,848,287 intermodal units, down 2.4 percent, or 145,245 containers and trailers, from last year.
Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 22 weeks of 2019 was 11,377,111 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 2.4 percent compared to last year.
