North American rail traffic up 1.3% for the week ending April 20

The Association of American Railroads or AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending April 20. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 474,544 carloads and intermodal units, up 0.8% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending April 20 were 216,945 carloads, down 6.7% compared with the same week in 2023, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 257,599 containers and trailers, up 8.2% compared to 2023. Seven of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2023. They included motor vehicles and parts, up 2,236 carloads, to 16,877; petroleum and petroleum products, up 2,119 carloads, to 10,754; and forest products, up 686 carloads, to 8,427. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2023 were coal, down 20,796 carloads, to 47,472; nonmetallic minerals, down 854 carloads, to 31,781; and metallic ores and metals, down 704 carloads, to 21,100. North American rail volume for the week ending April 20 on 10 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 330,830 carloads, down 4.1% compared with the same week last year, and 346,266 intermodal units, up 7.1% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 677,096 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.3%. North American rail volume for the first 16 weeks of 2024 was 10,466,666 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.1% compared with 2023. Publicly traded companies in the space include CSX (CSX), Canadian National (CNI), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Union Pacific (UNP), Rail Vision (RVSN), Greenbrier (GBX), FreightCar America (RAIL) and Trinity Industries (TRN).