North American rail traffic up 3.8% for the week ending March 8

The Association of American Railroads or AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending March 8. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 497,412 carloads and intermodal units, up 5.4% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending March 8 were 219,457 carloads, up 2.6% compared with the same week in 2024, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 277,955 containers and trailers, up 7.7% compared to 2024. Five of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2024. They included coal, up 2,815 carloads, to 57,977; grain, up 2,414 carloads, to 21,710; and miscellaneous carloads, up 1,114 carloads, to 8,897. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2024 included metallic ores and metals, down 868 carloads, to 17,939; chemicals, down 675 carloads, to 33,079; and forest products, down 171 carloads, to 8,188…North American rail volume for the week ending March 8, on 9 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 326,395 carloads, up 2% compared with the same week last year, and 359,817 intermodal units, up 5.5% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 686,212 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.8% . North American rail volume for the first 10 weeks of 2025 was 6,574,589 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.3% compared with 2024. Publicly traded companies in the space include CN (CNI), CSX (CSX), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Union Pacific (UNP), Rail Vision (RVSN), FreightCar America (RAIL). GATX (GATX), Wabtec (WAB) and J.B. Hunt (JBHT)….