U.S. freight-rail traffic shoots up 7.6% in Week 18

U.S. freight railroads hauled 498,693 carloads and intermodal units in the week ending May 3, a 7.6% increase compared with traffic in the same week a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Carloads totaled 225,641 for the week, up 5.6%, while intermodal volume reached 273,052 containers and trailers, a 9.4% increase.

Five of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR tracks every week posted increases. They included coal, up 24.7% to 58,614 carloads; chemicals, up 6.1% to 34,376; and farm products excluding grain, and food, up 9% to 16,772.

Commodity groups that posted decreases were nonmetallic minerals, down 6.1% to 30,919 carloads; metallic ores and metals, down 5.3% to 19,231; and petroleum and petroleum products, down 9.7% to 9,607.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads logged 94,256 carloads for the week, down 0.7%, and 78,395 intermodal units, up 3.3%. Mexican railroads posted 15,076 carloads, up 14.1%, and 10,808 intermodal units, up 15.6%.

For the first 18 weeks of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024:

• U.S. railroads reported cumulative rail traffic of 8,805,607 carloads and intermodal units, up 5.2%;

• Canadian railroads posted 2,903,028 carloads, containers and trailers, up 0.2%; and

• Mexican railroads reported 429,247 carloads and intermodal units, down 8.9%.