U.S. railroads originated 1,189,892 carloads in August 2022, up 2.3 percent, or 27,040 carloads, from August 2021. 

U.S. railroads also originated 1,335,618 containers and trailers in August 2022, down 1.2 percent, or 15,856 units, from the same month last year. 

“Things can change quickly, but there are reasons to believe the economy is on track to stimulate continued improvements in rail volumes,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray. 

“To be sure, some traffic categories are doing better than others, just like some sectors of the economy are doing better than others. Through additional hiring and continued investments, railroads are preparing themselves for growth.”

Total U.S. carload traffic for the first eight months of 2022 was 8,090,712 carloads, up 0.3 percent, or 20,430 carloads, from the same period last year; and 9,248,250 intermodal units, down 5.1 percent, or 501,232 containers and trailers, from last year.

Week Ending September 3, 2022

Total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 513,087 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.7 percent compared with the same week last year.

Total carloads for the week ending September 3 were 241,431 carloads, up 5.7 percent compared with the same week in 2021, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 271,656 containers and trailers, up 2.1 percent compared to 2021..