(Radio Iowa) – The number of rail cars carrying retail goods through Iowa slowed in June. The Iowa D-O-T’s Stewart Anderson keeps track of those numbers. “The number of intermodal car loads has dropped two-point-nine percent compared to June of 2024, and that’s the first drop in 22 months. It’s been increases 22 months in a row,” he says. Anderson says the drop is likely linked to international trade issues. “We saw pretty rapid increases as we sense people are trying to get ahead of potential tariffs. So now we’re seeing our first decrease, probably reflection of some of that global trade uncertainty that’s existing right now,” Anderson says.

Iowa DOT photo

Anderson says the rail shipments of other items that don’t come in those intermodal containers increased by two-point-one percent. “Grain shipments, in particular on rail, are up eleven-point-three percent over June of 2024. So they’ve been on a pretty good streak here of increases year to date. That’s five-point-seven percent increase over 2024,” he says.

Anderson says the U-S-D-A has indicated corn shipments have increased, while soybean shipments have dropped.