North American rail traffic up 4.6% for the week ending December 2

Association of American Railroads or AAR reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending December 2 , as well as volumes for November .U.S. railroads originated 1,128,573 carloads in November , down 0.0% or 102 carloads, from November 2022. U.S. railroads also originated 1,279,906 containers and trailers in November up 5%, or 60,486 units, from the same month last year. Combined U.S. carload and intermodal originations in November were 2,408,479, up 2.6%, or 60,384 carloads and intermodal units from November 2022. “U.S. intermodal volume rose 5.0% in November, its third straight year-over-year gain after 18 straight declines and the biggest year-over-year percentage gain for intermodal in 29 months. Overall, the last week of November had the highest carload plus intermodal volumes in two years,” said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray. “Much will depend on how the broader economy continues to evolve, but railroads are hopeful November will provide much-needed momentum for the rest of 2023 and into 2024.” Total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 509,626 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.9% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending December 2 were 237,049 carloads, up 1.4% compared with the same week in 2022, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 272,577 containers and trailers, up 8.2% compared to 2022. North American rail volume for the week ending December 2 on 10 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 351,272 carloads, up 2.3% compared with the same week last year, and 356,459 intermodal units, up 6.9% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 707,731 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.6%. 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).