For the week ending Dec. 26, total U.S. weekly rail traffic of 405,111 carloads and intermodal units rose 8.4% compared with the same period last year, the Association of American Railroads reported Dec. 30. That was based on the continuing trend of intermodal gains (up 20.8% to 220,082 units) compensating for carload losses (down 3.4% to 185,029) vs. the 2019 period.
Intermodal gains—due in part to e-commerce’s surge through the pandemic and Holiday season—surpassed carload declines to drive U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Dec. 19, 2020, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on Dec. 23.
Congress passed the $2.3 trillion “Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021” (H.R. 133), an omnibus spending bill that includes a $900 billion COVID-19 emergency relief package as well as government appropriations for fiscal year 2021, tax extenders and other provisions. While many in the rail industry expressed appreciation—stressing that additional transit aid, for instance, will be needed—outgoing President Donald Trump did not. He refused to approve the bill—calling for higher direct relief checks to Americans and other changes—but he finally signed it into law late Dec. 27, averting a government shutdown Dec. 29.
While intermodal growth continues to lift U.S. weekly rail traffic figures in 2020, carloads are inching closer to what railroads reported in 2019. For the week ending Dec. 12, 2020, total U.S. weekly traffic was 546,209 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.9% compared with the same week last year, reported the Association of American Railroads (AAR) on Dec. 16. Total carloads were 238,193, down just 2.2%, and intermodal volume was 308,016 containers and trailers, up 11.1%, compared with 2019.
For the week ending Dec. 5, 2020, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 542,203 carloads and intermodal units—up 4.8% from the same period last year—based on a double-digit intermodal gain, according to an Association of American Railroads (AAR) Dec. 9 report. Total carloads were 244,986, down 1.4% compared with the same period in 2019, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume of 297,217 containers and trailers increased 10.5% compared with 2019.
In November, U.S. rail traffic “continued to make up lost ground,” with U.S. intermodal volumes at “near record highs” for the second consecutive month, Association of American Railroads (AAR) Senior Vice President John T. Gray reported on Dec. 2.
Total U.S. rail traffic of 534,607 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Nov. 21, 2020, kept pace with the same week last year, rising 2.5%, based on a double-digit intermodal gain, according to a Nov. 25 report from the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Total carloads were down 7.2% to 233,478, compared with the same week in 2019, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was up 11.5% to 301,129 containers and trailers, compared with 2019.
“Examining the Surface Transportation Board’s Role in Ensuring a Robust Passenger Rail System” was the topic of a virtual Nov. 18 hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
For the week ending Nov. 14, 2020, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 527,462 carloads and intermodal units, up 5.2% compared with the same week last year, based on a double-digit intermodal gain, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on Nov. 18. Total carloads were 232,146, down 3.1% compared with the same week in 2019, but U.S. weekly intermodal volume, at 295,316 containers and trailers, rose 12.9% compared to 2019.
For the week ending Nov. 7, 2020, a significant gain in intermodal once again surpassed a decline in carloads as the pandemic continued. U.S. rail traffic—522,028 carloads and intermodal units—rose 1.3% compared with the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported Nov. 11.