North American rail traffic down 2.1% for the week ending January 7

The Association of American Railroads, AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending January 7. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 416,489 carloads and intermodal units, down 5.5% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending January 7 were 212,962 carloads, up 1.4% compared with the same week in 2022, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 203,527 containers and trailers, down 11.8% compared to 2022. Seven of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2022. They included coal, up 8,870 carloads, to 63,928; petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,215 carloads, to 10,119; and motor vehicles and parts, up 960 carloads, to 11,752. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2022 were chemicals, down 7,016 carloads, to 27,356; miscellaneous carloads, down 1,691 carloads, to 7,016; and forest products, down 1,117 carloads, to 8,574. North American rail volume for the week ending January 7, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 305,444 carloads, up 5.4% compared with the same week last year, and 271,276 intermodal units, down 9.4% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 576,720 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.1%. North American rail volume for the first week of 2023 was 576,720 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.1%t compared with 2022. Publicly traded companies in the space include CSX (CSX), Canadian National (CNI), Canadian Pacific (CP), Kansas City Southern (KSU), Norfolk Southern (NSC),Union Pacific (UNP), Greenbrier (GBX),Trinity Industries (TRN), FreightCar America (RAIL) and Wabtec (WAB). Reference Link