US weekly rail traffic shows slight gain over 2024
Carload volume on U.S. railroads for the week ending Feb. 15 finished narrowly ahead of the same period in 2024. The post US weekly rail traffic shows slight gain over 2024 appeared first on FreightWaves.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) on Thursday reported total U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Feb. 15 of 480,740 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.5% compared with the same week in 2024.
A total 209,216 carloads was down 4.8% y/y, while intermodal volume of 271,524 containers and trailers was up 7%.
Just one of the 10 carload commodity groups, petroleum and petroleum products, posted an increase compared with the year-ago week, up 1,501 carloads, to 10,948. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2024 included coal, down 4,472 carloads, to 54,447; metallic ores and metals, down 2,130 carloads, to 17,270; and chemicals, down 1,655 carloads, to 32,246.
For the first seven weeks of 2025, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 1,453,273 carloads, off 0.7%, and 1,885,295 intermodal units, up 9.3% y/y. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first seven weeks of 2025 was 3,338,568 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 4.7%.
North American rail volume for the week on nine reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 311,694 carloads, down 5.9%, and 349,663 intermodal units, up 3.5% y/y. Total combined traffic was 661,357 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.2%.
North American rail volume for the first seven weeks of 2025 was 4,584,752 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.6% compared with 2024.
Canadian railroads reported 87,034 carloads for the week, down 6.3%, and 65,628 intermodal units, down 7.1% y/y. For the first seven weeks of 2025, Canadian railroads reported cumulative volume of 1,091,660 carloads, containers and trailers, up 2%.
Mexican railroads reported 15,444 carloads for the week, down 17.3% compared with the same week a year ago, and 12,511 intermodal units, down 7.1%. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first seven weeks of 2025 was 154,524 carloads, containers and trailers, down 8.5% y/y.
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