United States rail carload and intermodal volumes, for the month of April, each saw significant annual gains compared to a difficult pandemic-influenced April 2020, according to data issued this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).
Rail carloads—at 951,840—headed up 23.7%, or 182,060 units. AAR said that 17 of the 20 carload commodity categories it tracks saw annual gains, including: coal, up 55,929 carloads or 28.7 percent; motor vehicles & parts, up 38,891 carloads or 465.9 percent; and chemicals, up 17,201 carloads or 14.8 percent. Commodities that saw declines in April 2021 from April 2020 included: crushed stone, sand & gravel, down 823 carloads or 1 percent; primary forest products, down 124 carloads or 2.9 percent; and farm products excl. grain, down 74 carloads or 1.9 percent.
