North American rail traffic up 8% for the week ending July 6

The Association of American Railroads, AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending July 6. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 421,817 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.3% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending July 6 were 195,030 carloads, down 1.2% compared with the same week in 2023, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 226,787 containers and trailers, up 7.6% compared to 2023. Seven of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2023. They included grain, up 4,702 carloads, to 17,486; chemicals, up 2,017 carloads, to 30,552; and forest products, up 803 carloads, to 7,955. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2023 were coal, down 7,804 carloads, to 50,700; nonmetallic minerals, down 3,326 carloads, to 26,710; and motor vehicles and parts, down 214 carloads, to 10,646 North American rail volume for the week ending July 6, on 10 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 299,444 carloads, up 0.4% compared with the same week last year, and 304,920 intermodal units, up 16.7% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 604,364 carloads and intermodal units, up 8%. North American rail volume for the first 27 weeks of 2024 was 17,781,131 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.3% 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).