U.S. freight-rail traffic climbs 11% in Week 14

U.S. freight-rail traffic rose 11.2% to 500,584 carloads and intermodal units in the week ending April 5 compared with volume in the same week a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads data.

Carload volume climbed 8.5% to 226,790 units, while intermodal traffic rose 13.6% to 273,794 containers and trailers.

Seven of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR tracks every week posted increases. They included coal, up 24.9% to 58,314 carloads; nonmetallic minerals, up 7.5% to 31,753; and chemicals, up 4.8% to 33,423.

Commodity groups that posted decreases included petroleum and petroleum products, down 5.2% to 9,475 carloads; forest products, down 2.7% to 8,309; and miscellaneous, down 1.5% to 8,489.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads reported 92,356 carloads for the week, down 3.3%, and 72,096 intermodal units, down 0.6%. Mexican railroads posted 10,066 carloads, down 22.1%, and 9,974 intermodal units, up 9.4%.

For the first 14 weeks of 2025 compared to 2024:

• U.S. railroads posted 6,816,848 carloads and intermodal units, up 5%;

• Canadian railroads logged 2,221,406 carloads, containers and trailers, up 0.1%; and

•Mexican railroads hauled 329,098 carloads, containers and trailers, down 8.2%.