Shipments of forest products returned to earth after a brief comeback last week, but that didn’t drag down strong U.S. railfreight volumes as intermodal led data higher.
U.S. weekly rail traffic up 7.2% year-over-year
Total U.S. weekly rail traffic for the week ending May 23 was 523,574 carloads and intermodal units, up 7.2% compared with the same week a year ago, the Association of American Railroads said.
Freight totaled 230,831 carloads, up 2.2%, while intermodal volume of containers and trailers was 292,743 units, better by 11.5% y/y.
Commodity group performance
Six of 10 carload commodity groups tracked by AAR were higher y/y. Grain remained the pacesetter, up 15.3%; followed by metallic ores and metals, 9%. Motor vehicles and parts shook off a slow year, up 2.3%.
Year-to-date U.S. rail volume
For the first 20 weeks of this year, U.S. railroads saw cumulative volume of 4,528,563 carloads, up 3.3%, and 5,555,553 intermodal units, a gain of 1.4% from the prior year. Total combined volume was 10,084,116 carloads and intermodal units, better by 2.3% y/y.
North American rail volume
North American rail volume for the week on nine reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 340,946 carloads, an increase of 3.8%, and 381,548 intermodal units, up 10.3% from 2025. Total combined traffic was 722,494 carloads and intermodal units, ahead by 7.2%. North American rail volume for the first 20 weeks of 2026 improved 2.1% to 13,877,362 carloads and intermodal units.
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Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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Source: FreightWaves
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
