The number of carloads moved on short line and regional railroads in April 2021 was up compared to April 2020. Carloads originated increased 18.9 percent, from 305,350 in April 2020 to 363,021 in April 2021.
Virtually all carload groups were up. Motor Vehicles and Equipment led gains with a 212.0 percent increase. Nonmetallic Minerals was up 82.9 percent and Waste and Scrap Materials and Petroleum Products increased 54.9 and 50.8 percent respectively. Pulp, Paper and Allied Products and Grain were the only declines, both down 0.1 percent in April.
Click here to download the Carloads by Commodity table as an Excel file.
Carloads originated for 2021 were at 1,365,643 through April 30, up about 67,000 carloads, or 5.1 percent from 2020.
Railinc publishes this information as a service to the rail industry. The Railinc Short Line and Regional Traffic Index can also be found monthly in Railway Age magazine. For questions or comments, please contact the Railinc Corporate Communications department.
