Following is a monthly update on the United States and Canadian rail freight traffic, with a focus on carloads. The data in the table is from the May issue of Railway Age, and we have added a column that shows typical car types for ease of reference. Each month, when this data is published, the report is for the second-previous month. Here is the information:

Major US Railroads
Commodity Typical Car Type (s) March 2020 March 2019 % Change
Grain Covered Hopper                     83,982                     82,338 2.0%
Farm Products ex. Grain Covered Hopper, Gondola                       3,788                       2,872 31.9%
Grain Mill Products Covered Hopper incl. PD                     36,972                     35,829 3.2%
Food Products Boxcar, Tankcar, other                     23,509                     23,527 -0.1%
Chemicals Boxcar, Tankcar, other                  133,608                  127,727 4.6%
Petroleum & Petroleum Products Tankcar                     49,260                     47,572 3.5%
Coal Gondola                  231,277                  274,888 -15.9%
Primary Forest Products Flatcar, Gondola, Open top Hopper                       4,620                       4,545 1.7%
Lumber & Wood Products Flatcar, Boxcar                     13,857                     13,549 2.3%
Pulp & Paper Products Boxcar                     20,413                     21,323 -4.3%
Metallic Ores Open top Hopper, Gondola                     15,019                     15,312 -1.9%
Coke Open top Hopper, Gondola                     14,176                     14,348 -1.2%
Primary Metal Products Gondola, Flatcar, Boxcars                     34,391                     38,589 -10.9%
Iron & Steel Scrap Gondola                     15,512                     15,890 -2.4%
Motor Vehicles & Parts Autorack, Boxcar, Flatcar                     58,563                     69,616 -15.9%
Crushed Stone, Sand & Gravel Open top Hopper, Gondola                     76,983                     87,465 -12.0%
Nonmetallic Minerals Open top Hopper, Gondola                     14,686                     15,633 -6.1%
Stone, Clay & Glass Products Covered Hopper, Open top Hopper, etc.                     30,803                     29,788 3.4%
Waste & Nonferrous Scrap Gondola                     13,842                     13,706 1.0%
All other carloads n/a                     24,412                     22,304 9.5%
Total US Carloads                  899,673                  956,821 -6.0%
Canadian Carloads                  332,227                  322,834 2.9%
Combined US & Canadian Carloads               1,231,900               1,279,655 -3.7%

The data is pretty much as expected, with a significant reduction in coal, metal products, motor vehicles and parts, and construction materials (stone, sand, and gravel).

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