US freight railroads report uptick in traffic for Week 20

Traffic on U.S. freight railroads rose 7.2% to 523,574 carloads and intermodal units during the week ending May 23 over the same week in 2025, according to Association of American Railroads data.

Carloads for the week totaled 230,831, up 2.2%; weekly intermodal volume totaled 292,743 containers and trailers, up 11.5%. 

Six of the 10 carload commodity groups tracked by the AAR posted year-over-year increases, including grain, up 15.3% to 23,151; metallic ores and metals, up 9% to 23,420; motor vehicles and parts, up 2.3% to 16,866; and petroleum and petroleum products, up 2.1% to 10,778. 

The four groups that logged a decline were miscellaneous carloads, down 2.7% to 10,245; coal, down 1.3% to 55,526; forest products, down 0.8% to 8,275; and nonmetallic minerals, down 0.1% to 32,000 carloads. 

Canadian railroads posted 95,467 carloads for the week, up 9.2%, and 73,496 intermodal units, up 1.2%. Mexican railroads reported 14,648 carloads, down 4.2%, and 15,309 intermodal units, up 45.3%. 

Cumulative traffic through the first 20 weeks of 2026 compared with the first 20 weeks of 2025 shows: 

• U.S. railroads posted 10,084,116 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.3%
• Canadian railroads reported 3,284,768 carloads and intermodal units, up 0.6%
• Mexican railroads logged 508,478 carloads and intermodal units, up 9.6%