North American rail traffic down 3% for the week ending September 9

The Association of American Railroads or AAR reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending September 9. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 447,345 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.7% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending September 9 were 218,101 carloads, up 0.6% compared with the same week in 2022, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 229,244 containers and trailers, down 3.8% compared to 2022. Six of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2022. They included motor vehicles and parts, up 1,585 carloads, to 14,913; petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,416 carloads, to 9,734; and coal, up 866 carloads, to 68,367. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2022 included grain, down 2,427 carloads, to 14,626; nonmetallic minerals, down 679 carloads, to 30,163; and forest products, down 514 carloads, to 7,840. North American rail volume for the week ending September 9 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 323,563 carloads, up 0.0% compared with the same week last year, and 305,358 intermodal units, down 6% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 628,921 carloads and intermodal units, down 3%. North American rail volume for the first 36 weeks of 2023 was 23,304,320 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.1% compared with 2022. 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), Greenbrier (GBX), Trinity Industries (TRN), Wabtec (WAB), Rail Vision, (RVSN) and FreightCar America (RAIL).