{"id":175833,"date":"2025-02-15T01:02:15","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T15:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldcargonews.com\/?p=69459"},"modified":"2025-02-15T01:02:15","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T15:02:15","slug":"uneven-outlook-continues-on-us-railroads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=175833","title":{"rendered":"Uneven outlook continues on US railroads"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) would like to report growth in the sector. However, the picture is not quite as clear cut. Strong consumer demand continues to drive strong rail intermodal movements, which suggests that Americans are bullish about their future. At the same time, however, industrial shipments (which includes autos, steel and aggregates) <\/strong>have remained weak, suggesting there is uneven growth across the economy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Railroads may have some confidence about their short-term prospects – particularly if it\u2019s boxes they carry. According to AAR analysis, US manufacturing is showing signs of expansion for the first time in two years. Should these trends continue, says the AAR, demand for rail-hauled goods such as motor vehicles, steel and crushed stone could rise in the months ahead.<\/p>\n

Foodstuffs and Feedstocks<\/h2>\n

The perennially optimistic Association of American Railroads has found reason to talk up the freight sector in their latest monthly review. \u201cFreight rail started 2025 with a mix of stability and sector-specific volatility,\u201d said the Association. \u201cUS railroads originated 1.03 million carloads in January, up 0.2% year-over-year, marking the first overall increase in five months. While modest, this uptick suggests steady underlying demand, particularly in non-coal shipments.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Analysis from the Association of American Railroads<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201d\u2028\u2028Figures show that raw products improved overall, both from agricultural harvests and for industrial feedstocks. Grain carloads surged 6.1%, marking a twelfth consecutive monthly increase. Chemical shipments are also on prolonged growth. They rose by 4.8% – their 17th consecutive monthly gain. Coal, however, is in continued decline. Shipments fell 2.3% year-over-year. \u201cThis was the smallest percentage decline in 13 months, signalling a potential stabilisation after prolonged declines,\u201d said an upbeat AAR. \u201cCoal remains the largest single carload commodity by volume, accounting for 27.3% of total non-intermodal U.S. rail shipments in January.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stability with pockets of strength<\/h2>\n

The AAR has expressed concerns over the tariff-driven economic policy, as promoted by new US president Donald Trump. \u201cAs economic policy continues to be debated in Washington, tariffs are at the forefront,\u201d notes the AAR. \u201cProponents argue tariffs protect domestic industries and jobs, while critics warn that tariffs can drive up costs for manufacturers relying on imported materials and raise prices on these items for consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although too early to be directly impacted by the new administration\u2019s economic policy, the AAR figures show that January of this year saw the first carload increase in five months, with intermodal surging 10.3%, driven by strong consumer demand. However, industrial shipments remain weak, with coal and metals declining while chemicals and grain continue to grow.<\/p>\n

The feature image on this story was taken by Norfolk Southern\u2019s Brad Brenneman, a quality assurance supervisor at the Juniata Locomotive Shop in Altoona, PA. The image won the corporate-wide 2020 Photo Contest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) would like to report growth in the sector. However, the picture is not quite as clear cut. Strong consumer\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":69466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14875,368,72,7862,65,15042,1433,15380],"tags":[12159],"class_list":["post-175833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aar","category-association-of-american-railroads","category-business","category-donald-trump","category-intermodal","category-monthly-figures","category-rail","category-us-tariffs","tag-world-cargo-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=175833"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176754,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175833\/revisions\/176754"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=175833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=175833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=175833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}