U.S. freight-rail traffic decreased 5.4% to 505,120 carloads and intermodal units in the week ending May 14 compared with the same week last year, according to Association of American Railroadsdata.
Railroads logged 230,128 carloads, down 5.2%, and 274,992 containers and trailers, down 5.5%.
Three of the 10 carload commodity groups that the AAR tracks weekly posted increases. They were nonmetallic minerals, up 1,570 carloads to 33,344; farm products excluding grain and food, up 993 carloads to 16,257; and motor vehicles and parts, up 625 carloads to 13,097.
Commodity groups that posted decreases included coal, down 4,317 carloads to 64,015; grain, down 3,561 carloads to 21,910; and metallic ores and metals, down 2,289 carloads to 21,426.
Meanwhile, Canadian railroads reported 74,072 carloads, down 5.1%, and 76,004 intermodal units, down 1.8%. Mexican railroads reported 21,231 carloads, up 12.6%, and 16,157 intermodal units, up 9.5%.
For the first 19 weeks of 2022 compared with the same period in 2021:
• U.S. railroads hauled 9,370,059 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.5%;
• Canadian railroads handled 2,691,713 carloads, containers and trailers, down 6.7%; and
• Mexican railroads moved 709,043 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 3.1%.