U.S. freight-rail traffic dipped in Week 34

[Editor's note: This story was edited to add a statement from the AAR.]

U.S. freight railroads carried 512,333 carloads and intermodal units in the week ending Aug. 23, a 0.8% decrease compared with traffic in the same week a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Carloads totaled 229,783 for the week, a 0.6% increase, while intermodal volume totaled 282,550 containers and trailers, a 1.9% decrease.

Four of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR tracks every week posted increases. They included grain, up 9.2% to 20,389 carloads; motor vehicles and parts, up 6% to 17,681; and farm products excluding grain, and food, up 4.1% to 16,140.

Commodity groups that posted decreases included petroleum and petroleum products, down 9.9% to 9,769 carloads; coal, down 0.6% to 62,043; and miscellaneous carloads, down 2.7% to 9,100. Meanwhile,

Canadian railroads logged 80,067 carloads for the week, up 23.8%, and 73,564 intermodal units, up 47.7%. The increase in rail traffic over 2024 can be attributed to lower rail traffic ahead of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference strike/lockout that occurred at CN and Canadian Pacific Kansas City from Aug. 22 to Aug. 24 in 2024, AAR officials said in an email.

Mexican railroads posted 12,509 carloads for the week, down 3.6%, and 14,125 intermodal units, up 18.6%.

For the first 34 weeks of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024:

• U.S. railroads reported cumulative rail traffic of 16,699,108 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.5%;

• Canadian railroads posted 5,499,570 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.2%; and

• Mexican railroads logged 789,820 carloads and intermodal units, down 8.4%.