Staggering Loss in Carloads

July 27, 2020

Following is a monthly update on United States (rail freight traffic by sector (with Canadian totals), with a focus on carloads. The data in the table is from the July 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 current information reported:

Major US Railroads
Commodity Typical Car Type (s) May 2020 May 2019 % Change
Grain Covered Hopper 85,640 90,703 -5.58%
Farm Products ex. Grain Covered Hopper, Gondola 3,386 3,062 10.58%
Grain Mill Products Covered Hopper 33,182 35,975 -7.76%
Food Products Boxcar, Tankcar, other 19,977 23,531 -15.10%
Chemicals Boxcar, Tankcar, other  112,384  130,497 -13.88%
Petroleum & Petroleum Products Tankcar 37,948 52,480 -27.69%
Coal Gondola  185,278  312,479 -40.71%
Primary Forest Products Flatcar, Gondola 3,958 4,896 -19.16%
Lumber & Wood Products Flatcar 11,461 13,577 -15.59%
Pulp & Paper Products Boxcar 18,834 21,287 -11.52%
Metallic Ores Open top Hopper, Gondola 8,952 22,947 -60.99%
Coke Open top Hopper 11,066 15,826 -30.08%
Primary Metal Products Gondola, Flatcar, Boxcars 23,847 36,169 -34.07%
Iron & Steel Scrap Gondola 11,302 14,186 -20.33%
Motor Vehicles & Parts Autorack, Boxcar, Flatcar 16,476 65,817 -74.97%
Crushed Stone, Sand & Gravel Open top Hopper, Gondola 75,668 93,864 -19.39%
Nonmetallic Minerals Open top Hopper, Gondola 15,556 18,059 -13.86%
Stone, Clay & Glass Products Covered Hopper, Open top Hopper, etc. 29,605 30,291 -2.26%
Waste & Nonferrous Scrap Gondola 12,632 13,554 -6.80%
All other carloads n/a 23,019 23,946 -3.87%
Total US Carloads  740,171 1,023,146 -27.66%
Canadian Carloads  266,089  340,044 -21.75%
Combined US & Canadian Carloads 1,006,260 1,363,190 -26.18%

The declines continue to be staggering, with manufacturing-related losses for metallic ores, primary metal products, iron and steel scrap, motor vehicles and parts, and still big declines in the energy sector (petroleum and coal.) There is no way to put a good face on the data. Let’s hope that this report, for the full month of May will be quickly put in the rearview mirror as the economy continues its restrained recovery.

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