North American rail traffic up 1.9% for the week ending June 22

The Association of American Railroads or AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending June 22. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 485,557 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.6% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending June 22 were 220,096 carloads, down 0.8% compared with the same week in 2023, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 265,461 containers and trailers, up 7.5% compared to 2023. Five of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2023. They included grain, up 2,851 carloads, to 17,495; chemicals, up 1,890 carloads, to 31,807; and farm products excl. grain, and food, up 1,792 carloads, to 16,878. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2023 included coal, down 4,442 carloads, to 58,555; miscellaneous carloads, down 1,676 carloads, to 8,688; and metallic ores and metals, down 1,309 carloads, to 21,108. North American rail volume for the week ending June 22, on 10 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 323,953 carloads, down 1.6% compared with the same week last year, and 347,092 intermodal units, up 5.4% percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 671,045 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.9%. North American rail volume for the first 25 weeks of 2024 was 16,485,752 carloads and intermodal units, up 2% 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), (WAB),Trinity Industries (TRN),Greenbrier (GBX), FreightCar America (RAIL), and Rail Vision (RVSN).