AAR: Freight-rail traffic falls 3.2% in Week 5

U.S. freight railroads hauled 486,854 carloads and intermodal units during the week ending Feb. 7, down 3.2% compared with traffic from the same week in 2025, according to Association of American Railroads data.

Carloads for the week totaled 208,408, down 4.8%, while weekly intermodal volume totaled 278,446 containers and trailers, down 2%.

Three of the 10 carload commodity groups tracked by the AAR each week posted increases compared with the same week last year. They were petroleum and petroleum products, up 10.2% to 10,950 carloads; grain, up 3.2% to 22,577; and motor vehicles and parts, up 2.6% to 16,011.

Commodity groups that posted decreases included coal, down 6.2% to 53,445 carloads; nonmetallic minerals, down 11.7% to 24,637; and miscellaneous carloads, down 18.9% to 7,320.

Canadian railroads reported 87,967 carloads for the week, up 6.4%, and 69,979 intermodal units, up 2.1%. Mexican railroads posted 13,348 carloads, up 69.1%, and 13,364 intermodal units, up 51.3%.

For the first five weeks of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025:

• U.S. railroads posted 2,418,765 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.7%;
• Canadian railroads reported 780,380 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.1%; and
• Mexican railroads logged 139,557 carloads and intermodal units, up 38%.