North American rail traffic down 2% for the week ending January 28

The Association of American Railroads, AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending January 28, as well as volumes for January 2023. "Rail traffic began 2023 much the same way we ended 2022 -demonstrating reasons for both optimism and caution," said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray. "For example, this was the best January for carloads of crushed stone and sand on record, largely due to the growth in domestic natural gas production and the need for frac sand. Automotive traffic, although not yet at pre-pandemic levels, had a healthy improvement over 2022. Negatively, it was the worst January for intermodal since 2013 with major retailers cutting back on inventories and consumer spending – especially on goods – having contracted." Total U.S. carload traffic for the first month of 2023 was 923,696 carloads, up 2.2%, or 19,827 carloads, from the same period last year; and 919,928 intermodal units, down 8.1%, or 81,443 containers and trailers, from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first four weeks of 2023 was 1,843,624 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 3.2% compared to last year. Total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 473,650 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.9% compared with the same week last year.Total carloads for the week ending January 28 were 236,018 carloads, down 0.1% compared with the same week in 2022, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 237,632 containers and trailers, down 7.4% compared to 2022. North American rail volume for the week ending January 28 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 340,616 carloads, up 2.3% compared with the same week last year, and 317,248 intermodal units, down 6.2% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 657,864 carloads and intermodal units, down 2%. North American rail volume for the first four weeks of 2023 was 2,551,044 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.9% 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), FreightCar America (RAIL), Trinity Industries (TRN), Greenbrier (GBX) and Wabtec (WAB). Reference Link