North American rail traffic up 2.7% for the week ending June 1

The Association of American Railroads or AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending June 1. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 450,077 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.4% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending June 1 were 206,236 carloads, down 5.9% compared with the same week in 2023, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 243,841 containers and trailers, up 10.7% compared to 2023. Six of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2023. They included grain, up 2,947 carloads, to 19,049; farm products excl. grain, and food, up 1,010 carloads, to 16,075; and petroleum and petroleum products, up 927 carloads, to 10,006. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2023 included coal, down 12,514 carloads, to 51,817; nonmetallic minerals, down 4,514 carloads, to 27,128; and miscellaneous carloads, down 1,306 carloads, to 7,996. ..North American rail volume for the week ending June 1, on 10 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads totaled 310,890 carloads, down 2.6% compared with the same week last year, and 327,199 intermodal units, up 8.2% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 638,089 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.7%. North American rail volume for the first 22 weeks of 2024 was 14,459,420 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).