North American rail traffic up 0.6% for the week ending January 14

The Association of American Railroads, AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending January 14. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 486,000 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.7% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending January 14 were 244,171 carloads, up 4.2% compared with the same week in 2022, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 241,829 containers and trailers, down 7% compared to 2022. Seven of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2022. They included grain, up 3,483 carloads, to 28,008; nonmetallic minerals, up 3,033 carloads, to 30,380; and motor vehicles and parts, up 2,176 carloads, to 14,562. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2022 were chemicals, down 2,226 carloads, to 31,793; forest products, down 715 carloads, to 9,244; and miscellaneous carloads, down 117 carloads, to 9,580. North American rail volume for the week ending January 14,on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 350,991 carloads, up 7.5% compared with the same week last year, and 319,854 intermodal units, down 6% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 670,845 carloads and intermodal units, up 0.6%. Publicly traded companies in the space include CSX (CSX), Canadian National (CNI), Canadian Pacific (CP), Kansas City Southern (KSU), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Union Pacific (UNP),Greenbrier (GBX), Trinity Industries (TRN), FreightCar America (RAIL), and Wabtec (WAB). Reference Link