North American rail traffic down 13.5% for the week ending January 20

The Association of American Railroads or AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending January 20. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 397,553 carloads and intermodal units, down 13.2% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending January 20 were 173,371 carloads, down 22.4% compared with the same week in 2023, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 224,182 containers and trailers, down 4.5% compared to 2023. None of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2023. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2023 included coal, down 21,055 carloads, to 47,731; nonmetallic minerals, down 11,953 carloads, to 18,628; and grain, down 5,246 carloads, to 15,752. North American rail volume for the week ending January 20, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 265,838 carloads, down 20.3% compared with the same week last year, and 289,982 intermodal units, down 6.0% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 555,820 carloads and intermodal units, down 13.5%. North American rail volume for the first three weeks of 2024 was 1,778,528 carloads and intermodal units, down 5.6% compared with 2023. Publicly traded companies in the space include CSX (CSX), Canadian National (CNI), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP), Kansas City Southern (KSU), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Union Pacific (UNP), , Trinity Industries (TRN), Greenbrier (GBX), FreightCar America (RAIL), Rail Vision (RVSN) and Wabtec (WAB).