The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported May 5 US and Canadian rail traffic volumes for April 2021.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported May 5 US and Canadian rail traffic volumes for April 2021. Down slightly after a huge rebound in March, US railroads originated 951,840 carloads in April, up +24%, or 182,060 units, from April 2020.
US railroads also originated 1,173,952 containers and trailers in April, up +34%, or 296,758 units, from the same month last year.
Specifically looking at primary forest products (logs), carloads were down -3%, or 124 units. However lumber carloads were higher in April 2021 than in April 2020 and April 2019.
Total US carload traffic for the first 4 months of 2021 was 3,862,937 carloads, up +3%, or 104,793 carloads, from the same period last year; and 4,793,498 intermodal units, up +18%, or 718,271 containers and trailers, from last year.
Regarding North American rail volume for the first 16 weeks of 2021, Canadian railroads reported cumulative volume of 2,424,692 carloads, containers, and trailers, up +7% from the same week one year ago.
