North American rail traffic up 0.7% for the week ending May 25

The Association of American Railroads or AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending May 25. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 485,232 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.2% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending May 25 were 217,744 carloads, down 6.9%compared with the same week in 2023, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 267,488 containers and trailers, up 8.9% compared to 2023. Three of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2023. They were petroleum and petroleum products, up 2,073 carloads, to 11,337; chemicals, up 1,540 carloads, to 33,439; and farm products excl. grain, and food, up 600 carloads, to 17,091. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2023 included coal, down 12,617 carloads, to 50,216; nonmetallic minerals, down 4,158 carloads, to 30,981; and metallic ores and metals, down 2,361 carloads, to 21,689…North American rail volume for the week ending May 25 on 10 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 320,227 carloads, down 4.2% compared with the same week last year, and 350,485 intermodal units, up 5.7% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 670,712 carloads and intermodal units, up 0.7%. North American rail volume for the first 21 weeks of 2024 was 13,821,331 carloads and intermodal units, up 2% compared with 2023. Publicly traded companies in the space include CSX (CSX), Canadian National (CNI), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Union Pacific (UNP), Wabtec (WAB),Trinity Industries (TRN),Greenbrier (GBX), FreightCar America (RAIL), and Rail Vision (RVSN). https://www.aar.org/news/weekly-rail-traffic-for-the-week-ending-may-25-2024/