AAR: U.S. rail volumes continue downward slide

[mahatmakanejeeves]

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3/9/2023
Rail News: Rail Industry Trends

AAR: U.S. rail volumes continue downward slide

U.S. rail traffic further slipped in 2023’s ninth week, according to data from the Association of American Railroads. For the week ending March 4, railroads reported 474,191 carloads and intermodal units, down 6.3% compared with the same week a year ago.

Carloads totaled 237,413, down 1%, and intermodal volume totaled 236,778 containers and trailers, down 11.1%.

Carload commodity groups that posted year-over-year increases included coal, up 3,612 carloads to 72,903; petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,320 carloads to 10,523; and motor vehicles and parts, up 995 carloads to 14,264.

Groups that registered declines included grain, down 4,309 carloads to 20,522; nonmetallic minerals, down 1,312 carloads to 31,204; and metallic ores and minerals, down 1,244 carloads to 19,124.

{snip}

[Warpy]

1. Derailments slow the whole system down and some cause loss of cargo

not to mention injuries and loss of life. How big is the problem? Check this out:

In 2021, there were 1,087 derailments that resulted in 83 injuries and three fatalities, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics. That's down from 1,440 derailments in 2011 and down from 2,234 derailments in 2001.

Between 1990 and 2021, there were a total of 54,570 derailments, for an average of 1,705 a year.

https://www.newsweek.com/us-train-derailments-seven-have-crashed-month-february-1781874

Since most derailments are caused by poor track maintenance, it's obviously past time to take control of the tracks away from the corporations, which can still make big enough profits transporting goods, and handing the tracks over to the Feds. This is how it is done in other countries, the government better able to make sure the rails are maintained in a timely manner, the freight and passenger trains paying fees to use them, and the policy of using them as cash cows by ignoring problems a thing of the past.

What we have now doesn't work.