AAR: U.S. rail volumes rise 3.4% in 2017

U.S. railroads originated more than 2 million carloads and intermodal units in December 2017, a 4 percent increase from the same month a year ago, according to the latest data from the Association of American Railroads (AAR).    U.S. railroads originated nearly 27.5 million total carloads and intermodal units for the full year in 2017, an increase of 3.4 percent compared to the previous year, according to the latest data from the Association of American Railroads (AAR).
   Total U.S. traffic for 2017 stood at 13,478,126 carloads, up 2.9 percent from calendar year 2016; and 14,011,834 intermodal units, up 3.9 percent year-over-year, according to AAR.
   In December, U.S. railroads carried 998,168 carloads and 1,065,965 containers and trailers, increases of 2.5 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively, from the same month last year ago. Combined U.S. carload and intermodal originations last month reached 2,064,133, up 4 percent from December 2016, AAR data show.
   “Rail traffic finished 2017 on a positive note,” AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray said. “In December, total carloads were up for the first time in six months, and 14 of the 20 carload categories we track saw year-over-year gains – the most for any month in almost three years.”
   “Meanwhile,” he continued, “intermodal volume was up for the 11th straight month and set a new annual record, breaking the previous mark set in 2015.”
   In December 2017, 14 of the 20 carload commodity categories tracked by the AAR saw carload gains compared with December 2016. The commodities included: crushed stone, sand & gravel, which rose up 15,632 carloads, or 23.1 percent; metallic ores, up 6,875 carloads or 35.2 percent; and chemicals, up 4,277 carloads or 3.5 percent.
   Commodities that saw declines in December 2017 from December 2016 included: grain, which was down 5,542 carloads or 6.1 percent; motor vehicles & parts, down 2,625 carloads or 4.1 percent; and nonmetallic minerals, down 1,424 carloads or 8.9 percent.
   “Rail traffic is a useful gauge of the state of the economy, and it shows that the economy’s momentum strengthened in the fourth quarter of 2017,” Gray explained. “Coal, grain, and petroleum products are not nearly as GDP-dependent as most other categories of rail traffic. If you exclude them, U.S. rail carloads were up 5.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017, their biggest quarterly percentage gain in more than three years.”
   Excluding coal, carloads were up 23,290 carloads, or 3.6 percent, in December 2017 from December 2016. Excluding coal and grain, carloads were up 28,832 carloads, or 5.2 percent.
   Regarding total U.S. carload traffic for 2017, AAR data show that it was 13,478,126 carloads, up 2.9 percent, or 381,266 carloads, from calendar year 2016; and 14,011,834 intermodal units, up 3.9 percent, or 521,121 containers and trailers, from 2016 numbers.