AAR: North American rail traffic off to good start in August

U.S. railroads had another strong traffic showing in August’s first full week. For the week ending Aug. 9, they registered 511,194 carloads and intermodal units, up 3% year over year, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data. 

Carloads totaled 227,327 units, up 2.4%, and intermodal volume totaled 283,867 units, up 3.4%. 

Seven of the 10 carload commodity groups tracked by the AAR each week posted gains, including metallic ores and metals (at 9.4%); grain (at 5.7%); motor vehicles and parts (at 5%); and forest products (at 4.2%). The three decliners were petroleum and petroleum products (down 2.2%), chemicals (down 0.4%) and farm products excluding grain and food (down 0.2%). 

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads reported 84,689 carloads for the week, down 5.6%, and 74,518 intermodal units, up 11.4% compared with volume in the same 2024 period. Mexican railroads logged 12,333 carloads, down 3.2%, and 12,940 intermodal units, up 14.5%. 

Through 2025’s first 32 weeks, U.S. railroads registered 7,055,736 carloads and 8,618,069 intermodal units, up 2.8% and 4.6%, respectively, on a year-over-year basis. Canadian railroads’ total traffic volume of 5,194,861 units rose 1.6% while Mexican railroads’ total volume of 770,425 units declined 4.8%. 

Total North American traffic volume — from nine reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads — through 32 weeks reached 21,639,091 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.9% compared with the same 2024 period.