AAR: December Rail Carloads and Intermodal Down Year-over-year

From the Association of American Railroads (AAR) Rail Time Indicators. Graphs and excerpts reprinted with permission.

U.S. railroads originated 902,265 total carloads in January 2022, down 3.0% (27,861 carloads) from January 2021. It’s the fewest carloads for the first four weeks of a year since sometime before 1988, when our data begin. …

U.S. intermodal volume was 1.00 million units in January 2022, down 14.6% from last year, but January 2021 was the second best month ever for intermodal.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph from the Rail Time Indicators report shows the six-week average of U.S. Carloads in 2019, 2020 and 2021:

U.S. railroads originated 902,265 total carloads in January 2022, down 3.0% (27,861 carloads) from January 2021 and the fewest for the first four weeks of a year since sometime before 1988, when our data begin. … Carloads excluding coal fell 6.0% in January 2022 from last year, their biggest year-over-year decline since February 2021 and, before that, August 2020.

The second graph shows the six-week average (not monthly) of U.S. intermodal in 2019, 2020 and 2021: (using intermodal or shipping containers):

U.S. intermodal originations totaled 1.00 million units in January 2022, down 14.6% (171,796 units) from January 2021. As with some carload commodities, the comparisons for intermodal were tough: January 2021 was the second highest volume month ever for U.S. intermodal, fractionally behind April 2021. January 2022 was the fifth best January ever for intermodal.