North American rail traffic up 3.1% for the week ending October 26

The Association of American Railroads or AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending October 26 . For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 519,415 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.2% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending October 26 were 228,829 carloads, up 0.9% compared with the same week in 2023, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 290,586 containers and trailers, up 6.9% compared to 2023. Seven of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2023. They included motor vehicles and parts, up 2,408 carloads, to 16,444; chemicals, up 1,506 carloads, to 32,838; and farm products excl. grain, and food, up 1,308 carloads, to 18,091. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2023 were coal, down 3,132 carloads, to 59,981; metallic ores and metals, down 2,341 carloads, to 18,085; and nonmetallic minerals, down 332 carloads, to 32,084. North American rail volume for the week ending October 26 on 9 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 340,775 carloads, up 0.2% compared with the same week last year, and 376,589 intermodal units, up 6% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 717,364 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.1% . North American rail volume for the first 43 weeks of 2024 was 28,794,945 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.3% compared with 2023. Publicly traded companies in the space include CN (CNI), CSX (CSX), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Union Pacific (UNP), (TRN), Greenbrier (GBX), FreightCar America (RAIL), L.B. Foster (FSTR), Wabtec (WAB), GATX (GATX) and Rail Vision (RVSN)…