Rail/Intermodal
Rail and intermodal traffic during the week ended January 20 says little about the true state of the rail sector as sharp drops in volume resulted from severe winter weather that impacted much of North America for several days. U.S. and Canadian loads were down sharply while Mexican volume was basically stable sequentially and up strongly y/y.
Total North American carload traffic was down about 16% w/w and about 20%, according to Association of American Railroads data. The only major rail commodity groups to see any sequential growth in the latest week were non-metallic minerals and primary forest products. Volume was down y/y for all major rail carload groups. Economic sensitive commodities performed slightly better than total carload on both a w/w and y/y basis.
North American intermodal traffic declined more than 9% w/w and 6% y/y. Volume was down for both the U.S. and Canada, although Canadian intermodal loads saw a sharper drop.
Volume distortions will continue in the near term as the sector likely will see gains due to backlogs.
Surface Transportation Board
The Service Transportation Board this week issued a final rule amending its emergency service regulations to provide immediate relief for shippers in specified situations. The final rule clarifies that STB may act on its own initiative to direct emergency rail service, and it establishes an accelerated process for acute service emergencies.
The board proposed the rule in April 2022 following widespread complaints from shippers and other stakeholders over inconsistent rail service. Shippers had argued that existing regulations governing expedited relief were inadequate and that the process was so prolonged that they rarely used it even when facing major adverse consequences.
The final rule on emergency service is published HERE.
In announcing the rule, STB confirmed that the final rule modifying its emergency service regulations was not a substitute for its ongoing consideration of whether to adopt the reciprocal switching rule changes that were proposed in September.
