North American rail traffic up 4.4% for the week ending December 30

The Association of American Railroads, AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending December 30, as well as volumes for December 2023. U.S. railroads originated 876,881 carloads in December 2023, up 7.3%, or 59,804 carloads, from December 2022. U.S. railroads also originated 982,383 containers and trailers in December 2023, up 10.2%, or 90,881 units, from the same month last year. Combined U.S. carload and intermodal originations in December 2023 were 1,859,264, up 8.8%, or 150,685 carloads and intermodal units from December 2022. “Total U.S. rail carloads were up 2.% in the fourth quarter of 2023 over the fourth quarter of 2022, while U.S. intermodal was up 5.5 % over the same period. That means Q4 was clearly the best quarter of 2023 for U.S. rail volumes on a year-over-year basis,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray. “It appears that intense rail efforts to improve service quality are paying off. Railroads are hopeful that gains in the fourth quarter will carry over into the first quarter of 2024 and beyond.” Excluding coal, carloads were up 45,833 carloads, or 7.9%, in December 2023 from December 2022. Excluding coal and grain, carloads were up 40,036 carloads, or 8%. Total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 370,800 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.4% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending December 30 were 182,062 carloads, up 4.1% compared with the same week in 2022, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 188,738 containers and trailers, up 2.7% compared to 2022. North American rail volume for the week ending December 30, on 10 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 270,807 carloads, up 5% compared with the same week last year, and 254,475 intermodal units, up 3.8% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 525,282 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.4%. North American rail volume for the first 52 weeks of 2023 was 34,105,519 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.1% 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), FreightCar America (RAIL) and Wabtec (WAB)…