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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