U.S. freight-rail traffic climbs 6.6% in Week 44

U.S. freight railroads hauled 516,743 carloads and intermodal units in the week ending Nov. 2, a 6.6% increase compared with traffic levels in the same week last year, according to Association of American Railroads data.

Carloads totaled 228,635, up 1.9%, while intermodal volume reached 288,108 containers and trailers, up 10.7%.

Nine of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR tracks every week posted an increase. They included chemicals, up 7.7% to 32,425 carloads; grain, up 10.4% to 23,656; and nonmetallic minerals, up 6.1% to 33,124 carloads.

The only commodity group that posted a decrease this week was coal, which dropped 12.2% to 57,314 carloads.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads reported 96,792 carloads for the week, down 0.8%, and 70,113 intermodal units, up 4.2%. Mexican railroads posted 15,145 carloads for the week, up 20.3%, and 13,316 intermodal units, up 27.2%.

For the first 44 weeks of 2024 compared with traffic volumes during the same period in 2023:

• U.S. railroads logged 21,221,753 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 3.2%;

• Canadian railroads reported 7,013,025 carloads, containers and trailers, no movement; and

• Mexican railroads posted 1,272,276 carloads, containers and trailers, a gain of 3%.