U.S. railroads post 2.4% traffic increase in Week 47

U.S. freight railroads logged 415,332 carloads and intermodal units, a 2.4% increase, in the week ending Nov. 25 compared with the same week a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads data.

Carloads for the week totaled 195,948, down 2.5%, while containers and trailers totaled 219,384, up 7.1%.

Four of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR tracks every week posted increases. They included petroleum and petroleum products, up 13.6%; metallic ores and metals, up 5%; and chemicals, up 1.9%.

Commodity groups that posted decreases included miscellaneous carloads at -37.8%; nonmetallic minerals, -7.3%; and grain, -6.9%.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads logged 91,357 carloads for the week, a 4.5% decrease, and 69,360 intermodal units, a 0.5% increase. Mexican railroads posted 15,344 carloads, a 17.5% increase, and 11,058 containers and trailers, a 25.4% increase.

For the first 47 weeks of 2023 compared with the same period in 2022:
• U.S. railroads posted  22,000,339 carloads and intermodal units, a 3.3% decrease;
• Canadian railroads reported 7,500,788 carloads, containers and trailers, a 3.3% decrease; and
• Mexican railroads logged 1,322,649 carloads, containers and trailers, a 4.3% increase.