AAR: U.S. freight-rail traffic down 4% in Week 53

Editors note: The Association of American Railroads assigns rail traffic data from weeks that bridge two years to the year in which more days fall. Therefore, the week ending Jan. 3, 2026, is considered Week 53 of 2025. Since a year with 53 weeks only happens every few years, rail traffic comparisons are made to the corresponding period 52 weeks prior. This means the comparable data for Week 53 is Week 1 of 2025. To ensure data is comparable year to year, AAR discards Week 53 data when computing annual traffic totals. 

U.S. freight railroads hauled 404,293 carloads and intermodal units in the week ending Jan. 3, down 4% from the comparable week in 2025, according to data from the Association of American Railroads.

The number of carloads hauled in the week totaled 192,665, down 2.8% from the comparison week, while intermodal traffic dropped 5.1% to 211,628 containers and trailers.

Two of the carload commodity groups logged by the AAR each week posted an increase. They were chemicals, up 2.3% to 32,493 carloads; and grain, up 0.9% to 21,022.

Commodities that posted decreases include nonmetallic minerals, down 6.1% to 21,565 carloads; miscellaneous carloads, down 17.8% to 5,734; and farm products excluding grain, and food, down 4.7% to 15,694.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads posted 78,588 carloads for the week, down 2.3%; and 55,805 intermodal units, down 9.7%. Mexican railroads carried 8,671 carloads, down 10.7%; and 10,195 intermodal units, up 43.1%.

For the 52 full weeks of 2025 compared with traffic in the same period in 2024:

• U.S. railroads hauled 25,564,430 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.5%;
• Canadian railroads logged 8,387,041 carloads and intermodal units, up 2%; and
• Mexican railroads posted 1,235,581 carloads and intermodal units, down 5.5%.