North American rail traffic up 3.2% for the week ending February 17

The Association of American Railroads or AAR reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending February 17. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 474,226 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.7% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending February 17 were 220,529 carloads, down 0.6% compared with the same week in 2023, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 253,697 containers and trailers, up 7.9% compared to 2023. North American rail volume for the week ending February 17, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 331,196 carloads, down 1.0% compared with the same week last year, and 337,305 intermodal units, up 7.6% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 668,501 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.2%. North American rail volume for the first seven weeks of 2024 was 4,443,897 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.2% 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), Greenbrier (GBX), Trinity Industries (TRN), FreightCar America (RAIL), Rail Vision (RVSN) and Wabtec (WAB).