The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has announced its US rail traffic figures for week ending 2 December. Credit: Jon Rehg/ Shutterstock

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has announced its US rail traffic figures for the week ending 2 December 2023, as well as the numbers for November 2023.

In November 2023, U.S. railroads produced 1,128,573 carloads, a decrease of 102 carloads, from the same month the previous year.

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The AAR reported that 1,279,906 containers and trailers were used by US railroads in November 2023, an increase of 60,486 units, 5%, in comparison to November 2022.

John T. Gray, AAR Senior Vice President, emphasised the size of growth.

Gray said: “U.S. intermodal volume rose 5.0% in November, its third straight year-over-year gain after 18 straight declines and the biggest year-over-year percentage gain for intermodal in 29 months.  Overall, the last week of November had the highest carload plus intermodal volumes in two years”.

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”Much will depend on how the broader economy continues to evolve, but railroads are hopeful November will provide much-needed momentum for the rest of 2023 and into 2024.”

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Compared to November 2022, carload improvements were observed in 12 out of the 20 carload commodity categories that the AAR tracks each month in November 2023.

These included chemicals, which increased by 5.7%; motor cars and parts, which increased by 6.6%; and gasoline and petroleum products, which increased by 10.1%.

For the week ending 2 December 2023, the combined rail volume of 10 reported U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads was 351,272 carloads, up 2.3% over the same week the previous year, and 356,459 intermodal units, up 6.9%.

In comparison to the same week last year, the total weekly rail traffic in the US at the end of 2 December was 509,626 carloads and intermodal units, representing an increase of 4.9%.