North American rail traffic down 4% for the week ending February 18

The Association of American Railroads, AAR reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending February 18. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 466,932 carloads and intermodal units, down 6.5% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending February 18 were 229,227 carloads, down 3.9% compared with the same week in 2022, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 237,705 containers and trailers, down 8.8% compared to 2022.Four of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2022. They included motor vehicles and parts, up 1,396 carloads, to 13,664; petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,378 carloads, to 10,630; and farm products excl. grain, and food, up 940 carloads, to 17,132. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2022 included coal, down 6,178 carloads, to 66,566; grain, down 3,118 carloads, to 21,864; and miscellaneous carloads, down 1,419 carloads, to 7,843. North American rail volume for the week ending February 18, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 335,772 carloads, up 0.3% compared with the same week last year, and 313,084 intermodal units, down 8.3% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 648,856 carloads and intermodal units, down 4%. North American rail volume for the first seven weeks of 2023 was 4,461,274 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.2% 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