AAR: February traffic trends point to more stable economy for railroads

U.S. freight-rail carloads and intermodal traffic increased year over year in February, according to the Association of American Railroads' March "Rail Industry Overview" report.

The growth, combined with other economic indicators, points to a more stabilized economic backdrop for railroads in the coming months, AAR officials concluded in the report.

Railroads hauled 898,948 carloads in February, a 6.5% increase over February 2025. Key commodities driving growth in the month included coal, which increased 6.9% to 234,636 carloads; grain, up 26.9% to 100,072; and chemicals, up 3.3% to 138,424 carloads, according to the report.

"Broad-based gains across carload categories suggest industrial activity and goods movement demand are firming," said AAR officials in the report. "That matters because many carload sectors tend to move closely with underlying real-economy activity, making rail volumes a clear real-time signal of changing freight demand."

Meanwhile, intermodal volume was up 1.5% in February over last year, for a total of 1,122,748 intermodal units hauled. February marks the first year-over-year gain for intermodal in six months, said AAR officials.

Despite "significant uncertainty" in the overall U.S. economy, especially in the labor market, recent readings on rail volumes, inflation and manufacturing point toward a better backdrop for freight demand in the coming months, AAR officials said. 

Notably, February was the second consecutive month in which U.S. manufacturing showed signs of expanding, said AAR officials.