North American rail traffic up 0.1% for the week ending October 21

The Association of American Railroads or AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending October 21. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 505,985 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.8% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending October 21 were 234,893 carloads, up 1.5% compared with the same week in 2022, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 271,092 containers and trailers, up 2.1% compared to 2022. Six of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2022. They included metallic ores and metals, up 3,855 carloads, to 22,463; nonmetallic minerals, up 1,595 carloads, to 33,966; and chemicals, up 1,076 carloads, to 31,517. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2022 included grain, down 2,374 carloads, to 20,367; coal, down 1,442 carloads, to 67,459; and forest products, down 390 carloads, to 7,805. North American rail volume for the week ending October 21, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 348,134 carloads, up 0.3% compared with the same week last year, and 355,428 intermodal units, down 0.1%compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 703,562 carloads and intermodal units, up 0.1% . North American rail volume for the first 42 weeks of 2023 was 27,452,637 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.5% compared with 2022. Publicly traded companies in the space include CSX (CSX), Canadian National (CNI), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP), Kansas City Southern (KSU), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Union Pacific (UNP), Trinity Industries (TRN), Greenbrier (GBX), FreightCar America (RAIL), Wabtec (WAB) and Rail Vision (RVSN).