North American rail traffic up 23.3% for the week ending December 23

The Association of American Railroads or AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending December 23. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 486,787 carloads and intermodal units, up 24.2% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending December 23 were 230,946 carloads, up 23.7% compared with the same week in 2022, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 255,841 containers and trailers, up 24.7% compared to 2022. All of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2022. They included coal, up 16,458 carloads, to 66,730; motor vehicles and parts, up 4,936 carloads, to 16,287; and grain, up 4,475 carloads, to 21,237. North American rail volume for the week ending December 23, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 340,069 carloads, up 21.4% compared with the same week last year, and 337,542 intermodal units, up 25.3% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 677,611 carloads and intermodal units, up 23.3%. North American rail volume for the first 51 weeks of 2023 was 33,580,237 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.2 percent compared with 2022. 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), Trinity Industries (TRN), Greenbrier (GBX), Wabtec (WAB), FreightCar America (RAIL) and Rail Vision (RVSN).