AAR: ‘Railroads Looking to the Future’ Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor U.S. rail traffic by the end of the 2020 reporting year was “close to pre-pandemic levels, sparked by sharply higher grain and intermodal shipments along with the reopening of auto assembly plants,” Association of American Railroads (AAR) Senior Vice President John T. Gray said on Jan. 6. In December, U.S. rail traffic—2,435,819 carloads and intermodal units—rose 4.4% from December 2019, with intermodal growth again offsetting carload declines. U.S. railroads originated 1,101,324 carloads, a falloff of 3.7%, or 42,666 carloads, compared with the same month in 2019; and 1,334,495 containers and trailers, a boost of 12.2%, or 145,126 units, from 2019.