North American railroads post volume increases in Week 19

U.S. freight-rail traffic rose slightly — 0.6% — to 468,748 carloads and intermodal units in the week ending May 11 compared with the same week in 2023, according to Association of American Railroads data.

Total carloads in the week fell 7% to 209,319, while the number of containers and trailers climbed 7.7% to 259,429.

Six of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR tracks weekly posted increases. They included chemicals, up 5.3% to 33,045 carloads; petroleum and petroleum products, up 15.9% to 10,996; and miscellaneous carloads, up 15.1% to 8,639.

Commodity groups that logged decreases included coal, down 26.2% to 46,715 carloads; nonmetallic minerals, -6.8% to 31,457; and grain, -8.5% to 17,226.

Also during the week, Canadian railroads reported 94,624 carloads, a 5.1% increase compared with a year ago; and 73,591 intermodal units, a 4.1% increase. Mexican railroads logged 17,539 carloads, a 15.8% increase; and 12,881 intermodal units, a 21.4% increase.

For the first 19 weeks of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023:
• U.S. railroads reported 8,841,779 carloads and intermodal units, up 2%;
• Canadian railroads reported 3,064,779 carloads, containers and trailers, up 0.9%; and
• Mexican railroads reported 574,629 carloads, containers and trailers, up 10.9%.