U.S. freight railroads report slight traffic gain in Week 15

U.S. freight railroads hauled 508,303 carloads and intermodal units in the week ending April 18, up 2.5% from traffic in the same week in 2025, according to Association of American Railroads data.

Carloads for the week totaled 230,749, up 3%, while weekly intermodal volume totaled 277,554 containers and trailers, up 2.2%.

Eight of the 10 carload commodity groups tracked by the AAR posted an increase in traffic during the week. Notable gains included grain, up 22.9% to 25,079; petroleum and petroleum products, up 15.5% to 11,158; and nonmetallic minerals, up 4.4% to 32,168 carloads.

The two groups that posted declines during the week were coal, down 4.7% to 54,601; and miscellaneous carloads, down 10.1% to 9,035 carloads.

For Week 15, Canadian railroads reported 95,736 carloads, up 4.7%, and 72,297 intermodal units, down 2.1%. Mexican railroads posted 13,310 carloads, up 47.3%, and 14,644 intermodal units, up 68.9%.

In terms of cumulative traffic for the first 15 weeks of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025:

• U.S. railroads posted 7,505,182 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.6%;
• Canadian railroads reported 2,432,335 carloads and intermodal units, up 0.8%; and
• Mexican railroads logged 398,630 carloads and intermodal units, up 16.4%.