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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