North American rail traffic up 1.3% for the week ending August 24

For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 516,807 carloads and intermodal units, up 9.5% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending August 24 were 228,858 carloads, up 1.2% compared with the same week in 2023, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 287,949 containers and trailers, up 17.1%compared to 2023. Seven of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2023. They included grain, up 5,519 carloads, to 18,914; petroleum and petroleum products, up 951 carloads, to 10,867; and miscellaneous carloads, up 602 carloads, to 9,360. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2023 were coal, down 5,785 carloads, to 62,543; nonmetallic minerals, down 329 carloads, to 32,891; and metallic ores and metals, down 212 carloads, to 21,812…North American rail volume for the week ending August 24 , on 9 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 310,429 carloads, down 4.5% compared with the same week last year, and 350,204 intermodal units, up 7.1% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 660,633 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.3%. North American rail volume for the first 34 weeks of 2024 was 22,504,112 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.3% compared with 2023. Publicly traded companies in the space include CN (CNI), CSX (CSX), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Union Pacific (UNP), Trinity Industries (TRN), Greenbrier (GBX), FreightCar America (RAIL) and Wabtec (WAB).