WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic continued its year-end surge, with traffic for the week ending Dec. 23 up 24.2% over the same week in 2022.
According to statistics from the Association of American Railroads, traffic for the week was 486,787 carloads and intermodal units. That included 230,946 carloads, up 23.7%, and 255,841 containers and trailers, up 24.7%. The total marked the seventh straight week traffic has been ahead of 2022 levels.
Week 51 figures for 2022 included total volume of 400,289 carloads and intermodal units, with 191,195 carloads, and 207,094 trailers containers [see “U.S. rail traffic remains down …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 29, 2022].
Year-to-date statistics, through 51 weeks of 2023, remain behind 2022 levels, but the margin is decreasing. Carload traffic is up 0.6% and intermodal traffic is down 5%, for an overall decrease of 2.4% compared to the same period a year ago.
North American volume, based on reports from 12 U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads, included 350,069 carloads, up 21.4%, and 337,542 intermodal units, up 25.3% over the same week in 2022. The combined total of 677,611 carloads and intermodal units is a 23.3% increase. North American year-to-date totals through 51 weeks show a 2.2% decline compared to the same period in 2022.
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