“Overall traffic levels last week were down from the prior week as would be expected for a week which includes a national holiday,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray. “However, it is somewhat heartening to note that 11 of the 20 carload categories, including several major commodity areas, improved their showing vs. 2019 when comparing their current loading rates to those we have seen the last four weeks. Perhaps most notably, automobile loadings improved to about one-third the normal level as assembly plants began the intricate process of reopening. While this is still a long way from where we would like to be, it is far better than the 10% of norm of only two weeks ago.”
