U.S. rail volumes rise 9.5%, Canada's fall during week of work stoppage

U.S. freight-rail traffic was up 9.5% to 516,807 carloads and intermodal units in the week ending Aug. 24 compared with the same week in 2023, according to the weekly rail traffic data from the Association of American Railroads.

Carloads for the week rose 1.2% to 228,858 total hauled, while intermodal volume soared 17.1% to 287,949 containers and trailers. 

Seven of the 10 carload commodities that AAR tracks weekly posted an increase. Gainers included grain, up 41.2% to 18,914; petroleum and petroleum products, up 9.6% to 10,867; and miscellaneous carloads, up 6.9% to 9,360.

The three commodity groups that posted decreases were coal, down 8.5% to 62,543; nonmetalic minerals, down 1% to 32,891, and metallic ores and metals, down 1% to 21,812. 

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads dropped to 65,550 total carloads for the week, a 22% plunge from the same week last year. Intermodal volume fell a whopping 28% decrease to 49,890 units. The decreases in carloads and intermodal units occurred during the week that CN and Canadian Pacific Kansas City issued work stoppages on Aug. 22 after failing to meet a deadline to agree to new labor contracts with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference. The work stoppage ended when the Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered the parties into binding arbitration.

Mexican railroads reported 16,021 carloads for the week, up 6.8%, and 12,365 intermodal units, a 5.7% increase.

For the first 34 weeks of 2024 compared to 2023:

• U.S. railroads reported 12,135,629 carloads and intermodal units, a 2.9% increase;

• Canadian railroads posted 5,385,867 carloads, containers and trailers, up 0.5%; and

• Mexican railroads logged 982,617 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 3.8%.