U.S. freight-rail traffic dips 1.5% in Week 24

U.S. freight railroads hauled 485,810 carloads and intermodal units in the week ending June 14, a 1.5% decrease compared with traffic levels in the same week last year, according to Association of American Railroads data.

Carloads for the week totaled 224,851, up 1%, while intermodal volume totaled 260,959 containers and trailers, down 3.5%.

Five of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR tracks every week posted a traffic increase. They included coal, up 5.3% to 59,027 carloads; farm products excluding grain, and food, up 3.8% to 16,817; and grain, up 3.2% to 19,767. 

Commodity groups that posted decreases included petroleum and petroleum products, down 6.8% to 10,294 carloads; miscellaneous, down 7.8% to 8,714; and metallic ores and metals, down 2.6% to 20,668.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads reported 90,981 carloads for the week, up 0.6%, and 74,753 intermodal units, up 0.2%. Mexican railroads posted 16,529 carloads for the week, up 0.9%, and 10,517 intermodal units, down 7.3%.

For the first 24 weeks of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024:
• U.S. railroads logged 11,710,144 carloads and intermodal units, a 4.2% increase;
• Canadian railroads reported 3,906,603 carloads, containers and trailers, a 1% increase; and
• Mexican railroads posted 563,446 carloads, containers and trailers, a 9.1% decrease.