North American rail traffic down 6.9% for the week ending March 18

The Association of American Railroads, AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending March 18. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 453,500 carloads and intermodal units, down 9.4% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending March 18 were 227,454 carloads, down 2.7% compared with the same week in 2022, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 226,046 containers and trailers, down 15.2% compared to 2022. North American rail volume for the week ending March 18, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 328,408 carloads, up 0% compared with the same week last year, and 300,200 intermodal units, down 13.5% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 628,608 carloads and intermodal units, down 6.9%. North American rail volume for the first 11 weeks of 2023 was 7,013,479 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.3% 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), Trinity Industries (TRN), Greenbrier (GBX). FreightCar America (RAIL) and Wabtec (WAB). Reference Link