North American rail traffic up 5.2% for the week ending August 31

The Association of American Railroads, or AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending August 31. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 516,632 carloads and intermodal units, up 8.4% compared with the same week last year…Total carloads for the week ending August 31 were 233,278 carloads, up 1% compared with the same week in 2023, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 283,354 containers and trailers, up 15.3% compared to 2023. Seven of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2023. They included grain, up 5,492 carloads, to 20,494; petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,365 carloads, to 11,412; and motor vehicles and parts, up 1,144 carloads, to 17,221. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2023 were coal, down 5,495 carloads, to 62,624; metallic ores and metals, down 1,487 carloads, to 21,616; and nonmetallic minerals, down 166 carloads, to 32,156… North American rail volume for the week ending August 31 on 9 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 343,419 carloads, up 2.3% compared with the same week last year, and 354,117 intermodal units, up 8.1% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 697,536 carloads and intermodal units, up 5.2%. North American rail volume for the first 35 weeks of 2024 was 23,201,648 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.4% 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), Trinity Industries (TRN), Greenbrier (GBX), Wabtec (WAB), Rail Vision (RVSN) and FreightCar America (RAIL).