U.S. freight-rail traffic climbs 3.5% in Week 9

U.S. freight-rail traffic rose 3.5% to 514,996 carloads and intermodal units during the week ending March 7 compared with the same week in 2025, to Association of American Railroads data.

Carloads for the week totaled 231,889, up 5.7%, while weekly intermodal volume totaled 283,107 containers and trailers, up 1.8%.

Eight of the 10 carload commodity groups tracked weekly by the AAR logged traffic increases compared to a year ago. Gainers included coal, up 7.7% to 62,480 carloads; grain, up 16.9% to 25,313; and chemicals, up 4.2% to 34,464.

The two commodity groups that logged decreases were nonmetallic minerals, down 1% to 28,142 carloads; and forest products, down 1.4% to 8,068.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads reported 91,046 carloads for the week, down 0.1%, and 73,037 intermodal units, up 3.5%. Mexican railroads posted 14,090 carloads, up 21.2%, and 15,210 intermodal units, up 56.9%.

For the first nine weeks of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025:

• U.S. railroads posted 4,468,601 carloads and intermodal units, up 2%;
• Canadian railroads reported 1,438,199 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.4%; and
• Mexican railroads logged 243,758 carloads and intermodal units, up 19.1%.