North American rail traffic down 0.1% for the week ending July 20

The Association of American Railroads or AAR reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending July 20. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 480,083 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.4% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending July 20 were 214,348 carloads, down 3.4% compared with the same week in 2023, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 265,735 containers and trailers, up 5.8% compared to 2023. Five of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2023. They included grain, up 2,387 carloads, to 17,300; petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,591 carloads, to 10,745; and farm products excl. grain, and food, up 1,413 carloads, to 16,880. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2023 included coal, down 6,278 carloads, to 57,906; nonmetallic minerals, down 3,825 carloads, to 30,758; and motor vehicles and parts, down 2,175 carloads, to 12,466…North American rail volume for the week ending July 20 , on 10 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 317,607 carloads, down 4.1% compared with the same week last year, and 346,231 intermodal units, up 3.9% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 663,838 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.1%. North American rail volume for the first 29 weeks of 2024 was 19,112,113 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.3% compared with 2023. Publicly traded companies in the space include CSX (CSX), Canadian National (CNI), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Union Pacific (UNP) Rail Vision (RVSN), Wabtec (WAB), Trinity Industries (TRN), FreightCar America (RAIL) and Greenbrier (GBX).