The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported March 2 reported US and Canada rail traffic for the week ending February 26, 2022, as well as volumes for February 2022.
US railroads originated 1,945,646 combined carloads and intermodal units for the month of February 2022, up +5.7%, or 104,819 units combined, from the same month one year ago.
Total US weekly rail traffic was 485,190 carloads and intermodal units, down -0.3% compared with the same week last year.
Total combined US traffic for the first eight weeks of 2022 was 3,849,354 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of -2.4% compared to last year.
Regarding North American rail volume for the first 8 weeks of 2022, Canadian railroads reported cumulative volume of 1,064,017 carloads, containers, and trailers, down -10.3% from the same time one year ago.
Specifically looking at lumber and wood products, after dropping for most of the beginning of the year, deliveries of lumber by rail improved toward the end of February.
US rail traffic had big year-over-year gains in February largely because severe winter storms held volumes back last February,” said AAR Senior Vice President John Gray. “That said, there were pockets of real strength last month. For example, carloads of chemicals set a new monthly record last month, carloads of coal were the highest in five months and carloads of lumber were the most in eight months.”
— AAR Senior Vice President John Gray