US rail traffic in decline: a sign of an economy that is doing little
An indicator of the forecast economic trend with respect to GDP is rail freight traffic, especially in countries where this tool is extremely used, such as the USA, where very long double-decker freight trains are part of the Midwest landscape. Here then this indicator starts sounding the alarm. According to data from the Association of American Railroads, in the week ending September 24, US rail traffic decreased by 4.4% compared to the same period in 2021, reaching only 489,111 loaded wagons.
Railways recorded 231,258 freight wagon loads, down 3.2%, and 257,853 containers and trailers, down 5.4%.
Three of the 10 cargo groups that the AAR tracks weekly have seen increases. These are motor vehicles and spare parts, with an increase of 1,610 loads to 13,165; coal, with an increase of 819 cargoes to 70,697; and non-metallic minerals, with an increase of 372 cargoes to 34,436. Coal is interesting because it shows the return of the oldest fossil energy source.
The product groups that recorded a decrease compared to the same week of 2021 were metal ores and metals, with a drop of 3,405 loads to 20,708; cereals, with a drop of 2,276 loads to 19,540; and chemicals, with a drop of 1,758 loads to 30,261.
For the first 38 weeks of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021:
- US railways recorded a cumulative volume of 18,782,988 freight and intermodal units, down 2.7%;
- Canadian railways recorded 5,499,480 loads of wagons, containers and trailers, down 2.4%;
- Mexican railways recorded 1,417,850 car and intermodal container and trailer loads, an increase of 2.5%.
Meanwhile, Canadian railways recorded 79,152 wagon loads, down 1.2%, and 68,448 intermodal units, down 3.6%. Mexican railways recorded 22,855 car loads, an increase of 22.4%, and 15,718 intermodal units, an increase of 15.3%.
Therefore, both the USA and Canada show a significant drop in merchandise traffic which will soon have repercussions on economic activity.
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The article US railway traffic in decline: a sign of an economy that is doing little comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/traffico-ferroviario-usa-in-calo-segno-di-uneconomia-che-tira-poco/ on Sat, 01 Oct 2022 07:30:14 +0000.