North American rail traffic up 10% for the week ending February 3

The Association of American Railroads, AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending February 3 as well as volumes for January 2024. U.S. railroads originated 1,025,168 carloads in January 2024, down 7.2%, or 79,725 carloads, from January 2023. U.S. railroads also originated 1,206,014 containers and trailers in January 2024, up 5.5% t, or 63,195 units, from the same month last year. Combined U.S. carload and intermodal originations in January 2024 were 2,231,182, down 0.7%, or 16,530 carloads and intermodal units from January 2023. “In January, severe winter weather significantly disrupted railroad and rail customer operations in much of the country,” said AAR economist Dan Keen. “Moreover, uncertainty remains in the economy, especially in sectors that are important to railroads, like manufacturing. Because of these factors, January is not necessarily a harbinger of what’s to come for rail traffic in the months ahead.” Excluding coal, carloads were down 39,183 carloads, or 5.0% in January 2024 from January 2023. Excluding coal and grain, carloads were down 24,816 carloads, or 3.7% Total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 491,697 carloads and intermodal units, up 11.6 %compared with the same week last year…North American rail volume for the week ending February 3, on 10 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 328,148 carloads, up 4.7% compared with the same week last year, and 352,559 intermodal units, up 15.4% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 680,707 carloads and intermodal units, up 10%. North American rail volume for the first five weeks of 2024 was 3,112,134 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.4 % compared with 2023. Publicly traded companies in the space include CSX (CSX), Canadian National (CNI), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP), Kansas City Southern (KSU), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Union Pacific (UNP), Rail Vision (RVSN), Greenbrier (GBX), Trinity Industries (TRN), FreightCar America (RAIL) and Wabtec (WAB).